South Caucasus

"Azerbaijan faces a big challenge in restoring the territories it has retaken, most of which had been left delipidated for nearly three decades. There is first the task of cleaning the territories from land mines and other unexploded ordinance. Then laying down the infrastructure, such as roads and airports, and of course houses to enable the hundreds of thousands of people displaced in the 1990s and their families, to return. It is a huge task which president Aliyev appears to be cherishing. 'The great return' will dominate his agenda for the years to come".

Peace in the Caucasus for the last three decades has been elusive, and appears to remain so. Lulls between fighting sometimes offer some respite from the violence, but real peace remains absent. It is now needed more than ever, but the "Pax Putin" is not the solution, argues Dennis Sammut in this op-ed