On Thursday, 2nd July 2009, Vicken Cheterian, Political analyst, Cimera will speak on “War and Peace in the Caucasus, Russia’s Troubled Frontier”from 4-5pm.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union the Caucasus was wracked by ethnic and separatist violence as the peoples of the region struggled for self-determination. Vicken Cheterian who spent many years as a reporter and analyst covering the region’s conflicts asks why nationalism emerged as a dominant political current, and why, of the many nationalist movements that emerged, some led to violence while others did not. He explains why minority rebellions were victorious against larger armies in Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia and in the first war in Chechnya, and discusses the ongoing instability and armed resistance in the North Caucasus.
Vicken Cheterian is a Geneva-based researcher, working at CIMERA. He has worked as correspondent in the Middle East, and later in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Russia and Ukraine, reporting for leading European papers, and has consulted various international organizations as well as the Swiss Foreign Ministry. He holds a PhD from The Graduate Institute, Geneva. His research interests include conflicts, peacebuilding, nationalism, transition, democratization, and environment and security. He is the founder of the Caucasus Media Institute in Yerevan, Armenia, which he directed from 2002 to 2005. His latest book entitled War and Peace in the Caucasus, Russia’s Troubled Frontier was published by Hurst in 2008, and by Columbia University Press in February 2009.
This seminar will be chaired by Christopher Langton, Senior fellow for Conflict & Defence Diplomacy on the 4th floor of Arundel House, 13–15 Arundel Street, Temple Place, London WC2R 3DX
