What is the Nagorno-Karbakh conflict about? About 50 people were killed some two weeks ago after intense fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed enclave between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The Economist Explains blog gave a primer on the conflict: “ Armenia and Azerbaijan have a long history of tension,” after both countries came under Bolshevik control and “Soviet commissars declared Nagorno-Karabakh a part of Azerbaijan, though a majority Armenian population remained… As the Soviet Union collapsed, a bloody war broke out over the territory. Some 30,000 were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced before a 1994 ceasefire halted the combat.” In the latest attacks, Azeri forces “attempted for the first time not only to rattle their Armenian foes, but to seize new territory… the moment may have seemed ripe for reshuffling the diplomatic cards.” What are the wider risks? “A new outburst could erupt at any time. If allowed to spin out of control, Nagorno-Karabakh could morph into a wider regional war, one that could pit Russia (which has a military base in Armenia and a treaty obligation to defend it against external attacks) and Turkey (which backs its ethnic brethren in Azerbaijan) against each other.”