Unresolved conflicts in the region as a key obstacle in the Essay

Unresolved conflicts in the region as a key obstacle in the development of (the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in the context) - Essay Example It is co-chaired by the United States, France and Russia. Negotiations hit a deadlock in 2011 leading to spread of the geographical scope to other regions far way from Nagorno-Karabakh. It has been identified that this conflict is the key barrier to peace, stability and development in the South Caucasus (Notholt, 2008, p68). A review of the reasons as to why both the external actors and the conflicting parties have an interest in maintaining the status quo reveals the reason why the peace negotiation process has currently hit a deadlock. For example, both the government of Armenian and Azerbaijani have not shown any genuine interest in achieving the negotiated outcomes, which are proposed by OSCE (Notholt, 2008, p34). The Nagorno-Karabakh government was officially excluded from participating in this peace process, and the Armenia government is currently representing them. NK officials are currently becoming impatient with isolation from the direct participation and the fact that the negotiation process is currently not underway (Croissant, 1998, p42). A number of factors do not favor the negotiation process in this region. For instance, the geographical context does not support this negotiation progress. This is because the key powerbrokers, which include The United States, Russia and Turkey, seem to be comfortable with the current status quo with respect to their strategic interests (Croissant, 1998, p34). In addition, they still promote arms race and power imbalance through security alliances and arms-trade with the conflicting parties. This is a clear evident that the external actors are not interested in finding a permanent solution to this conflict that will lead to long-lasting peace and development. Additionally, other nations like Iran and Georgia are interested in mediating this negotiation process, but members of OSCE have denied them the chance to participate. The United Nations Security Council has also been denied the