Russia's annexation of Crimea has revealed one easily forgotten fact: The world has a lot of gray areas, and these disputed regions are worrying as their unresolved status is often a spark for conflict, says Washington Post.
In his article Adam Taylor says that now, just as it becomes clear that Crimea is part of Russia in all but international recognition, a new gray area enters the headlines. As of Sunday, all eyes were on the other side of Ukraine after U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove said that Transnistria could soon be a hot spot.
But Transnistria, according to Taylor, is just one of several gray areas left after the fall of the Soviet Union. "You can see some of the others on the map above, which shows other hot spots such as Abkhazia, which broke away from Georgia in 1993, and South Ossetia, subject of an unresolved conflict with Georgia since 1992 and the basis of a short war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. Nagorno Karabakh has been controlled by ethnic Armenians since 1994, despite being claimed by Azerbaijan, and the presence of Russia's 102nd Military Base in Armenia has led to a good amount of speculation that Russian troops could intervene," Taylor says.
He concludes that the tensions over these regions have been lingering for years, rarely making headlines outside of the region. "They're a worrying reminder that these gray areas, whether they are in former Yugoslavia, the East China Sea, or the Indian subcontinent, have a habit of coming back to haunt," Taylor says.
To remind, in Oct 2013 Commander of Russia's 102nd Military Base in Armenia Andrey Ruzinsky said that should Azerbaijan try to regain control over Nagorno-Karabakh by means of force, the base might intervene according to Russia's obligations as a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization.