ELYA AGHAJANYAN
withdrawal of foreign aid and other non-military actions were always present in power politics and are considered traditional strategies to address and manage conflicts . 6 Mutually harmful stalemates and time are two of the most important factors for conflict management . Some theories address these two factors , for instance , Zartman ’ s Ripeness Theory , where time is considered one of the essential values for the negotiation process . 7
The literature also fell short when carefully analyzing or explaining what successful or unsuccessful conflict management implies . There is no clear conception of what successful conflict management means . It is worth noting that this is not about the outcome of long-term conflict management , but the management process . That is to say , how the conflicting parties manage to achieve their goals . Consequently , Goertz and Regan are those of few scholars who have tried to examine this question and they believe that it is worth defining success , as in this context it may be interpreted in a few ways namely success of the conflict management may mean reducing the average level of the rivalry , reducing the chances of the more severe military acting , reducing the level of variations in the conflicts . 8
In regards to the academic discourse by Azerbaijani scholars on the NK peace process in the framework of conflict management / resolution , the dominant views in the studied literature can be grouped into two categories : scholars who discuss the Azerbaijani approach of becoming stronger and having the upper hand over the resolution process 910 , and scholars who address the obstacles for a peaceful resolution and make recommendations . 1112 Most of the analyses of the Azerbaijani scholars are dedicated to the peace process , conflict resolution efforts ( and in that context the pro-war rhetoric and militarization of the conflicting sides )
6 Paul Stern & Daniel Druckman , International conflict resolution after the Cold War ( Washington , D . C : National Academy Press , 2000 ), 5 . 7 William Zartman , “ International Conflict Resolution after the Cold War ,” ed . P . C . Stern ,
D . Druckman ( Washington , D . C : National Academy Press , 2000 ). 8 Gary Goertz & Patrick Regan , “ Conflict Management in Enduring Rivalries ,” International Interactions 22 , no . 4 , ( 1997 ): 321-340 . 9 Rashad Shirinov and Zaal Anjaparidze , “ Review of Isolation Policies Within and Around South Caucasus ,” International Center on Conflict and Negotiation ( 2016 ). 10 Shahin Abbasov , “ Karabakh 2014 : No War , but a Difficult Journey to Peace ”, Conciliation Resources ( 2009 ): 13-21 . 11 Tabib Huseynov , “ A Karabakh Azeri Perspective ”, Conciliation Resources , 17 ( 2005 ): 25-28 . 12 Tabib Huseynov ,“ Karabakh 2014 : The Day after Tomorrow- Agreement on the Basic
Principles , What Next ?” Conciliation Resources ( 2009 ): 28-34 . 54