The Right to Self-Determination in the South Caucasus: Nagorno Karabakh in Context, by Bahruz Balayev, explores the relationship in international law between the concept of self-determination and territorial integrity in the context of the Caucasus region. This study brings together the various self-determination movements of the Caucasus (Nagorno Karabakh, South Ossetia, Adjara, Abkhazia, and Chechnya) and provides a comparative analysis.   The August 2008 war in Georgia and the proclamation of independence of Kosovo renewed the discussion over the right to self-determination in international law: Has the right to self-determination evolved since the solutions to the conflicts over self-determination are now determined in a new manner, or should it? Will the question of self-determination in different regions of the world be a spark for a new cold war? Unilateral declarations and the recognition of independence of South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Kosovo could be the first spark. These are the pressing questions because there are many self-determination and secession movements all over the world. The Right to Self-Determination in the South Caucasus is a unique tool for scholars, researchers, and the public in understanding South Caucasus regional conflicts from the New Haven School perspective.

"Nagorno Karabakh is a landlocked, mostly mountainous and forested region in the South Caucasus. It is located within the boundaries of what is now the Republic of Azerbaijan. During the Sovietization of the Caucasus, Joseph Stalin and the USSR's Caucasus Bureau decided to incorporate Nagorno Karabakh and its largely Armenian population into the newly created Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, thus planting the seeds of conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. In the waning years of the USSR, Karabakh Armenians began challenging the Azeri authorities and called for unifying Karabakh with Armenia. The conflict and the ensuing civil war have caused devastation in the area. Although a no-war, no-peace situation currently exists, Azerbaijan has lost effective control over the area. The resulting uncertainty about the satisfactory resolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict remains a major source of instability in the strategically important South Caucasus. This book, based on the author's doctor of the science of law dissertation, provides a detailed political and legal analysis of the emergence of this conflict. Balayev examines ways the principle of the right of self-determination can help in resolving this conflict. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections." - CHOICE