"The Ripple Effect": The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict

    I attended a GIP event on Wednesday, Feb. 17, led by seniors Christina P. and Ryan L., a Global Scholar. Three speakers spoke to the Poly community about the current conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region and how that conflict has impacted local communities in Los Angeles.

    The event panel included Poly alumna Saira Mohamed, the former Attorney-Advisor for human rights and refugees in the State Department's Office and a current professor of criminal law and human rights at UC Berkeley's law school; Salpi Ghazarian, the director of the USC Institute of Armenian Studies; and Steve Swerdlow, Professor of the Practice of Human Rights in the Department of Political & International Relations at USC. Mohamed started the presentation with a thorough explanation of international law, one of her areas of expertise.

    I was intrigued by the panelists' diverse backgrounds, which allowed them to relay the presentation in a clear and comprehensive manner. Ghazarian brought a rich background in government to the event while Swerdlow discussed the lack of regulation of human rights in the conflict. He mentioned that both Armenia and Azerbaijan have targeted civilians in addition to wounding the military, violating a fundamental law regarding the distinction of legitimate and non-legitimate targets. The panelists also emphasized the various global effects of the conflict, particularly on the nations bordering Armenia and Azerbaijan: Russia, Iran, and Turkey. 

    I greatly appreciated it when the panelists explored how the conflict has affected Southern California because of the large and strong Armenian community present here.