A ONE DAY WORKSHOP
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Friday, January 30, 2009

Organized by The Armenian Studies Program, University of Michigan

Co-sponsored by CIMERA, Geneva, Switzerland

Session I: 9:00 - 12:00 "Kosovo, Karabakh, and the International Community: Right and Might" Moderator: Ronald Grigor Suny (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor), Author of Looking Toward Ararat: Armenia in Modern History. Speakers: Vicken Cheterian (CIMERA, Geneva) Author of War and Peace in the Caucasus. Ben Graham (University of California, Davis) Author of Unrecognized States: A Bargaining Model Analysis. Mikulas Fabry (Georgia Institute of Technology) Author of Recognizing States: International Society and the Establishment of New States since 1776.

Session Il: 2:00 - 5:00 "Caucasia, Karabakh and the Wider World: Voices from the Region" Moderator: Gerard Libaridian (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor) Author of Modern Armenia: People, Nation, State. Speakers: Antranik Migranyan (Institute for Democracy and Cooperation, Moscow/New York) Elin Suleymanov (Consul-General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles). Gocha Lordkipanidze (Former diplomat, Republic of Georgia)

After Kosovo: Whither Karabakh? With the American and European recognition of an independent Kosovo, against the express desires of Serbia and Russia, and without the sanction of the United Nations, a new precedent was set for the process of recognizing new states after conflict and unilateral secession. This one-day workshop will assess how the factor of international recognition of Kosovo's independence could influence non-recognized states that emerged from similar circumstances: the collapse of federal structures of a sovereign state. The recognition of Kosovo has introduced a new element in the recognized pattern of post-Cold War state formation in Eurasia, despite the claims of some countries that this was an exception, not a precedent to the usual rules of the game. As political theorist Karl Schmidt wrote, "Sovereign is he who decides on the exception." But who is the proper sovereign here? The change in the status of Kosovo has already had repercussions elsewhere. The violent clashes of August 2008 in Georgia, followed by Russian recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, underline the novelty of the post-Kosovo world. This question has gained new significance and urgency. States that have separatist movements fear that the Kosovo precedent will accentuate the chances of separatism, while politically mobilized minority movements are encouraged by it. Mountainous Karabakh represents an interesting case, not only because it is located so near the other Caucasian conflicts, but because the question of its fate has repercussions for the whole region, an arena that has recently become a central focus of East-West power games. Sadly, there have been few analytical efforts to chart the recent evolution and future pathways of the conflict. This workshop aims to cover this gap by bringing together political analysts and international experts to examine the present and future of Mountainous Karabakh in light of the recent developments in Kosovo and Georgia. The workshop will be organized into two panels, each with three speakers and a moderator/commentator. This meeting of the workshop will be followed by a second at the University of Geneva, organized by CIMERA and co-sponsored by the Armenian Studies Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in the spring of 2009.

Location:

Anderson Room (D), Michigan Union
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor

International Recognition of Kosovo and its Impact on the Caucasus Conflicts by Vicken Cheterian

A Bargaining Model Applied: Prospects for a Negotiated Resolution of the Status of Nagorno-Karabakh by Benjamin Graham

Recognition of Kosovo, Abkhazia and South Ossetia: What are the Implications for Nagorno-Karabakh? by Mikulas Fabry