The frozen conflicts tend to reignite when the external influences that keep the situation in balance realign. In Nagorno-Karabakh's case, the new enmity between Turkey and Russia likely became the catalyst. When fighting resumed in South Ossetia in 2008 and Russia invaded Georgia, that was a direct result of a policy of toughness regarding the secessionist regions on the part the U.S.-backed president of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili. He believed -- mistakenly -- that U.S. support would make him less vulnerable to Russia's ire.
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