How the US can confront Moscow's frozen conflicts

Agnia Grigas, The Hill

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Excerpt:

Since the 1990s, a number of separatist movements and conflicts have challenged the borders of the states of the former Soviet Union and created quasi-independent territories under Russian influence or control: Transnistria in Moldova, Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, and South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia. ...

Past responses of the U.S. government to these frozen conflicts have centered on non-recognition policy, foreign aid, people-to-people diplomacy, establishment of international forums and sanctions. In the framework of its policy of "engagement without recognition" in Georgia's and Azerbaijan's separatist territories, Washington has pursued public diplomacy and people-to-people initiatives to counter their isolation. ...

The U.S. government should pursue a strict non-recognition of separatist regions until the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the targeted state is restored. ...