Nagorno Karabagh Conflict: National Movements in Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabagh Conflict: Ethno-psychological Approach to Nationalism

In this research at issue is the genesis of ethnic violence over Nagorno Karabagh conflict in the late 1980s in Armenia and Azerbaijan in the context of rising nationalism. How can we explain the emergence of national movements and subsequent ethnic clashes? Instrumentalist accounts are limited here by claiming that these movements were generated by elites. The theoretical justifications of my claim rely on psychological theories of nationalism. The antipathy and mistrust between the two ethnic groups were below surface, which in view of the rapidly developing events acquired collective emotional appeal, resulting in ethnic violence. This research claims that in a much larger context of tidal nationalism the Armenian and Azerbaijani elites became subordinate to major social factors that gave rise to national awakening in the region.