It has been less than a year since Azerbaijani forces poured into Nagorno-Karabakh, an ancient Armenian province that Joseph Stalin transferred to Azerbaijan as he gerrymandered the Caucasus. Nagorno-Karabakh is historically significant for two reasons: First, it is the traditional heartland of Armenia, the first country on Earth to embrace Christianity as its official religion.

Second, it is an incubator for democracy. Indeed, the democratic movement that percolated to a boil and ultimately brought down the Soviet Union’s disintegration began in Stepanakert, the Nagorno-Karabakh regional capital.