How autocracy impedes de-securitization, or why democracy matters: the case of Nagorno-Karabagh in the eyes of Azerbaijanis

Abstract

This article analyses the democracy/security nexus by looking at how autocratic rule guides popular opinion in what have come to be known as “frozen conflicts”. In tackling the role of democracy in security, we draw on the concepts of “securitization” and “desecuritization”. Based on the studies of Buzan, Waever and Aradau, we extend current approaches to desecuritization by indicating how democratic systems can unleash emancipatory social processes. This helps us understand not only the limited nature of de-securitization by autocrats, but also the impediments that autocratic rule presents to de-securitization from below. Besides direct limits placed on political freedoms, autocratic governments can prevent the liberalization and modernization of views in society through economic control and reproduction of the dominant socio-economic structures. Based on an uncommonly wide range of interviews, this article shows how a broader set of views affects the views on conflict and its resolution.