DefinePK

Abstract

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, a long-standing territorial and ethnic dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan, serves as a critical case study for evaluating conflict management in complex geopolitical settings. Despite decades of international mediation and multiple ceasefire attempts, the conflict remains unresolved due to entrenched historical grievances, strategic deadlocks, and ineffective diplomacy. This study aims to analyze the conflict through the lens of the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (TKI), which categorizes conflict-handling styles as avoiding, accommodating, compromising, competing, and collaborating. The objective is to extract relevant lessons for Pakistan, which faces parallel challenges in a volatile South Asian context. Adopting a mixed-methods approach, the study collected quantitative data via structured questionnaires from students of international relations, political science, and defence studies at major academic institutions, and qualitative insights through a semi-structured interview with a senior academic, supported by secondary literature, official reports, and media analyses. Results indicate that Azerbaijan’s competitive strategy, particularly during the 2020 conflict, leveraged Turkish-supplied drones and precision warfare to shift the territorial balance in its Favor. In contrast, Armenia’s reliance on accommodating and compromising strategies, combined with the OSCE Minsk Group’s failure to mediate effectively, undermined lasting peace efforts. Persistent mistrust, rigid negotiation structures, and fragmented diplomatic initiatives further stalled resolution. The findings underscore the importance of strategic innovation, credible deterrence, and adaptive conflict resolution frameworks. For Pakistan, these insights suggest the need to adopt a proactive, multifaceted approach to conflict management that strengthens national security, enhances diplomatic credibility, and ensures preparedness in the face of regional instability.