A web of Peace

Social media and conflict resolution in the South Caucasus. The opportunities offered to Armenian and Azeri peace activists, the debate in the region.

In the 15 years since a ceasefire agreement put the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh on hold, various peace proposals have faltered. But if Armenia’s first president was even forced to resign over talk of a concessionary deal by nationalist hardliners in his government opposed to a compromise settlement, the main obstacle in recent years has been public opinion.

Bellicose rhetoric directed against Armenians in Azerbaijan has become common and recently even spilled out into something as trivial as Eurovision, while political forces in Armenia on both sides of the divide have recklessly exploited the conflict to either maintain or come to power. Meanwhile, the local media continues to perpetuate negative stereotypes of the “enemy” while propaganda and misinformation has drowned out what little genuine discussion did exist.

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Yet, despite the risks, the increasing popularity of sites such as Facebook as well as other new mediums for self-expression such as blogs offers new potential for social media and other online tools to move in to fill the information gap. Although not a means to an end in themselves, these tools could have a significant potential as part of other traditional conflict resolution, management and transformation initiatives.

The full article published by Osservatorio Balcani e Caucasuso is available in English and Italian.