The South Caucasus has been a region that endured the yolk of Russian influence and hegemony since the 1800s. When Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union held direct rule over the region, ethnic violence based on illogical border manipulations by Moscow produced perpetual conflicts seen today.

Armenia and Azerbaijan are prime examples of ethnic and territorial disputes that emerged thanks to the Kremlin. As a result, both nations have been in a perpetual cycle of violence with minimal chance of lasting peace.

Several wars have occurred between both South Caucasus nations in the aftermath of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. However, to solidify its hardline rule, Moscow took advantage of the ethnic tensions instead of mitigating the violence between both countries.

Now that Russia has begun a self-implosion due to its faltering imperial ambitions in Ukraine, the United States can no longer stay idle in a region it historically neglected compared to the other areas that broke away from Moscow after the collapse of the USSR.