Frozen Conflicts in International Law

Overview & Synopsis

The term «frozen conflict» is commonly understood as a blurred state between war and peace. It typically refers to disputes in the post-Soviet space, namely South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia, Transnistria in Moldova, and Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan. However, it remains an ambiguous concept with no uniform definition. This book explores the relationship between International Law and frozen conflicts by examining the term, analysing the four cases mentioned, and situating the concept within the wider legal landscape. Frozen conflicts challenge the discipline’s binary logic by blurring the boundaries of war and peace, international and non-international armed conflicts, states and nonstates, and law and politics. The book offers a critical reflection on the limitations of International Law when addressing such ambiguous phenomena.