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{
  "authors": [
    "Thomas de Waal"
  ],
  "type": "other",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "dc",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
    "Carnegie Europe",
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    "Central Asia",
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Source: Getty

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Carnegie Europe

Conflict in Eurasia

The failure of the international community to recognize the Caucasus and Central Asia as a region with complex internal dynamics complicates efforts to respond to global challenges ranging from energy security and arms proliferation to humanitarian crises.

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By Thomas de Waal
Published on Feb 3, 2011
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Program

Russia and Eurasia

The Russia and Eurasia Program continues Carnegie’s long tradition of independent research on major political, societal, and security trends in and U.S. policy toward a region that has been upended by Russia’s war against Ukraine.  Leaders regularly turn to our work for clear-eyed, relevant analyses on the region to inform their policy decisions.

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Project

Eurasia in Transition

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Source: Eurasia Foundation

While the international community believes that long-standing conflicts in the Caucasus and Central Asia are under control, these disputes are far more fragile than they look, warned Thomas de Waal at a panel discussion hosted by Eurasia Foundation. De Waal joined Fiona Hill of Brookings Institution and the Washington Post’s David Ignatius in an examination of the strategic importance of the Caucasus and Central Asia in the major international challenges currently faced by the United States. “These conflicts aren’t frozen. I prefer the term simmering conflicts, or smoldering conflicts,” de Waal said. “There’s a lot going on under the surface here.”

De Waal and Hill agreed that the international community can play a real role in helping resolve these conflicts. “Let the negotiators and the diplomats talk to civil society, talk to the small constituency of peace and try to cultivate it…bypassing the authorities, if the authorities are not willing,” de Waal said.

About the Author

Thomas de Waal

Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe

De Waal is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, specializing in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus.

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Thomas de Waal
Senior Fellow, Carnegie Europe
Thomas de Waal
SecurityCentral AsiaCaucasus

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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