Highway to the Grey Zone: Nagorno-Karabakh, UAE, and Space Diamonds
So much for a slow news week, right?
Until this week, most Americans hadn’t heard of Nagorno-Karabakh (aside from those of us who wasted months of our lives in an obscure military planning scenario), the site of fierce fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan which has killed dozens on both sides.
What’s it about?
For most of the 20th Century, Nagorno-Karabakh – literally the “mountainous black garden” – was part of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, despite having a largely Armenian population. In the waning days of the Soviet Union, Karabakh Armenians declared independence from Azerbaijan and attempted to join Armenia. This eventually led to a war in which Armenia – despite having just a third of the population of Azerbaijan – eventually gained military control over Nagorno-Karabakh. That said, the international community recognizes Nagorno-Karabakh as part of Azerbaijan.
The recent fighting – which both sides blame the other for – represents the largest clashes since the 1994 cease-fire between the two nations.
Outside parties are picking sides in the conflict, with Turkey and Russia backing Azerbaijan and Armenia, respectively – making Nagorno-Karabakh the third proxy war being fought between Russia and Turkey (the other two being Libya and Syria).
What’s happening?
Open-source intelligence collectors suggest Azerbaijan is inflicting heavy losses on Armenian armored vehicles with “loitering munitions” (better known as “kamikaze drones”). Some observers have even suggested the recent developments represented a “sunset” for tanks on the battlefield – a claim that was quickly refuted at the Military Times and which sounded eerily similar to claims made following the Yom Kippur War.
Speaking of proxy wars…
Turkey’s not the only country fighting a shadow war. The UN recently accused the United Arab Emirates of violating an arms embargo in Libya, funneling arms, fuel, and other military supplies to Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar. And earlier this year, dozens of mercenaries linked to an Emirati company were forced to flee Libya in inflatable boats after an arms shipment to Haftar went sour.
As if that last debate couldn’t get any worse…
Twitter announced this week it removed 130 accounts linked to Iran. The accounts, which were particularly active during the debate, oddly seemed to tweet in support of both candidates.
Need a drink?
A new beer bar, the Shelter, just opened in Washington, DC, with dozens of taps and cans for take-home. I’ve been enjoying a Double Dry-Hopped Space Diamonds from Other Half Brewing in Brooklyn. Cheers.