Today there are at least 25 active irredentist claims around the world, and a
number of serious conflicts stem directly from these issues. The war between
Azerbaijan and Armenia over the territory of Nagorno Karabakh has killed per-
haps as many as 10,000 people and resulted in hundreds of thousands fleeing their
residences. Nagorno Karabakh lies within the borders of Azerbaijan, but is popu-
lated mostly by ethnic Armenians. The Armenians in the region, with the support
of the Armenian government, began agitating for unification with the Armenian
Soviet Socialist Republic in 1988, three years before the collapse of Soviet author-
ity. Ethnic violence between Armenians and Azerbaijanis increased, and after the
disintegration of the USSR, outright civil war erupted in Azerbaijan between the
Armenians living in Nagorno Karabakh and the Azerbaijani government. As of
early 2009, the status of the territory was not settled. Other potentially violent
irredentist claims involve the PeoplesRepublic of China’s claim to Taiwan, the
co-claims of India and Pakistan to Kashmir, and Argentina’s claim to the Falkland
Islands. In the case of the latter two examples, wars have been fought in recent
decades, and complete resolution of the disputes does not appear to be imminent.
Irredentism has been a volatile element offoreign relations for many centuries
and remains problematic even in regions that indicate a strong trend towardsupra-
nationalism, like Europe. The costs of such a foreign policy, as the history of the
20th century has proven, may be quite high.
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