On Friday 25 May and Saturday 26 May, CIS hosted a major international conference entitled 'Protracted conflicts in the former Soviet Union - Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Transnistria - Understanding the past, navigating the present, mapping the future'.
The conference was being organised with a grant awarded to Dr Donnacha Ó Beacháin from the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and the Department of Foreign Affairs Conflict Resolution Unit. It takes place during Ireland's chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) this year.
The presenters introduced the cases of their state (be it recognised or secessionist) and have an opportunity to engage with the other presenters and conference participants - academics, diplomats, students, EU and OSCE officials, civil servants and representatives of international organisations. The conference is designed to provide optimal conditions for participants not only to develop practical proposals on how best to ameliorate the current impasses in the conflict regions but to introduce the study of these conflicts to an Irish audience.
