Daniela Köhler - Böcker

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict can be regarded as a final attempt to avert the disintegration of the Soviet Union. During the CIAorchestratedprivatisation of the Soviet Union, as well as the agency’s Operation Cyclone in the context of the Soviet-Afghan War, the USSR experienced a severe economic crisis that rendered Mikhail Gorbachev’s Glasnost and Perestroika reform programme essential.The text provides a comprehensive analysis of the motivations behind a KGB general’s efforts to prevent the dissolution of the USSR through theNagorno-Karabakh conflict. In addition, it sheds light on the role of increased oil demand in prompting the United States to pursue the break-up of the USSR, with the objective of securing access to Soviet oil reserves. Finally, the role of Russia and Turkey as the United States’ main trading partners is examined.