The Observer view on Nagorno-Karabakh | Observer editorial

Unless the world's big powers act, the fragile ceasefire is unlikely to hold

The fact that Azerbaijan and Armenia have gone back to war at a moment of acute global crisis is deeply dismaying. In March, the UN called for a global ceasefire in support of the bigger battle against coronavirus. Its appeal has been widely ignored. The conflict in the South Caucasus echoes ongoing, heedless violence in several Middle East countries where, it seems, enmity trumps humanity. War is its own disease.

Renewed fighting over the Armenia-held Azerbaijani territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, which erupted last month and has killed or displaced thousands of civilians, vividly underscores the dangers inherent in the crumbling of the international, rules-based order. Regional powers initially failed to intervene or, in the case of Turkey, fanned the flames. The EU looked on as war engulfed its borders. The US did nothing.