The collapse of the Soviet Union, which had a huge geopolitical significance in recent history, was a stimulus for the outbreak of frozen ethno-political conflicts in its territory, including in the South Caucasus. The “awakening” of the inherited from the USSR and previously hidden conflicts coincided chronologically with the period of Gorbachev's reconstruction and heated up to the maximum after the collapse of the Soviet Union and after the declaration of independence of three new states in the South Caucasus: Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. In the framework of the formation of the modern world order, the world power centers, in particular the Russian Federation and the USA, and the states with a regional role, were actively involved in the multi-layered vortex of the problems of Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and naturally, pursuing their interests, they turned the processes of conflict settlement into important tool for managing the situation.

Keywords: South Caucasian ethno-political conflicts Nagorno-Karabakh-Artsakh South Ossetia Abkhazia right of self-determination of nations Georgian-Abkhazian Georgian-South Ossetian Russian-Georgian military operations chauvinism policy peacekeeping forces international law.