The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains unresolved for more than three decades. Previous studies on frozen conflicts focus on various aspects contributing to their...Show moreThe Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains unresolved for more than three decades. Previous studies on frozen conflicts focus on various aspects contributing to their prolongation but largely neglected the influence of public opinion. However, existing studies on the relationship between public opinion and foreign policy argue that public preferences and attitudes may have a significant impact on elites’ decisions concerning conflicts’ development and resolution talks. In this thesis, I argue that studying public opinion in Armenia and Azerbaijan towards the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can have wide-ranging implications for our understanding of frozen conflicts duration. The analysis shows that negative public opinion has a profound effect on the conflict prolongation, both directly and indirectly. Directly, by constraining policy-makers in their attempts to resolve the conflict and indirectly by providing the elites with incentives to perpetuate the conflict .Show less
