Ariel Cohen: U.S. may not have as much attention to Karabakh conflict in 2011

PanARMENIAN.Net - The forecast for 2011 on Nagorno Karabakh is disappointing, according to Heritage Foundation's leading expert on Eurasia Ariel Cohen.

“The conflict hardly has a prospect of a breakthrough, especially since the parties had missed such a wonderful opportunity as the OSCE summit,” Cohen stated.

He said the United States may not have as much attention to this conflict in 2011, before the forthcoming presidential elections in 2012. In addition, 2011 will be a crucial, if not critical year for the operations of coalition forces in Afghanistan, Cohen said.

“This means that the U.S. will have other priorities, and Washington, judging by recent statements of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will circumscribe its role even in regard to an important conflict, such as the Middle East,” Cohen said. “So intractable conflicts, in which the prospects for immediate political and public relations dividend for Washington are small, and a threat to national security is also limited, offer a lower priority for the U.S. administration, especially given the continuing difficulties with the country's economic situation,” Trend News quoted Cohen as saying.