The survey is part of the ESRC-funded project “After the War Ends: Violence in Post-Soviet Unrecognized States.” The overall project addresses the question, what happens after the fighting in intrastate conflicts officially ends? It hones in on post-war developments in so-called de facto, or unrecognized, states. The survey deposited here took place in Nagorno Karabakh in September 2013. Nagorno Karabakh is officially part of Azerbaijan, but it has functioned as a de facto state since the war with its “parent” state Azerbaijan in 1988-1993. The survey, which covers 1,000 respondents over the age of 18, asks people questions about their views on their present political, social, economic, and security situation, as well as their experiences of violence in the war of 1988-1993. The survey respondents were selected randomly from eight primary sampling units (the capital and the seven regions controlled by the Nagorno Karabakh authorities). Participation was entirely voluntary, and the survey responses are anonymous. The survey questions were asked in the respondents’ native tongue, by professionally trained interviewers. The survey was designed by the Dr. Bakke, based on surveys carried out elsewhere, and was commissioned to be carried out in the field by the Armenian Sociological Association.What happens after the fighting in intrastate conflicts officially ends? Peace settlements and military victories are assumed to bring an end to violence, yet they are often followed by high levels of crime and fighting among former enemies, even among former allies. Questions about post-war violence are particularly important in so-called de facto states born out of violent struggles, as these are vulnerable entities in the international system from the very outset. De facto, or unrecognized, states lack international recognition but function as state-like entities in that they control the population within their territories. While de facto states have been features on the international scene for decades, the fall of the USSR and subsequent separatist conflicts gave rise to several such state-like entities - places like Abkhazia, Chechnya, Nagorno Karabkah, South Ossetia, and Transdniestria. This study theorises and examines the causes and consequences of post-war violence within these de facto states. Based on statistical analyses of survey data, the study seeks to assess how the inhabitants’ experiences of criminal and political violence affect their views of the de facto states and their regimes. The study also aims to trace how the organisation and nature of war-time violence shapes post-war peace and stability (or lack thereof). The survey conducted as part of this ESRC-funded project took place in Nagorno Karabakh in September 2013. For related research based on a similar survey carried out in another de facto state (funded by the National Science Foundation in the US), see Bakke, O’Loughlin, Toal, and Ward’s 2014 article in International Studies Quarterly on “Convincing State-Builders? Disaggregating Internal Legitimacy in Abkhazia". This is available via the related resources.

The survey asks people 66 main questions (with several sub-questions) about their views on their present political, social, economic, and security situation, as well as their experiences of violence in the war of 1988-1993. The survey was designed by the PI, Dr. Bakke, based on surveys carried out elsewhere, and was commissioned to be carried out in the field by the Armenian Sociological Association, under the supervision of Dr. Gevorg Poghosyan (although Nagorno Karabakh is officially located within Azerbaijan, it is an Karabakh/Armenian-controlled de facto state; hence the use of an Armenian local partner). The survey includes 1,000 randomly selected participants over the age of 18, all anonymous. There were eight primary sampling units: the capital, Stepanakert, and the seven regions controlled by the Nagorno Karabakh authorities. The general control and sample correction were based on the results of the National Statistics (the last census was held in Nagorno Karabakh in 2012). The respondents are distributed as follows across the primary sampling units: Stepanakert (town of Stepanakert), 360 respondents; Askeran (town of Askeran), 120 respondents; Martuni (town of Martuni), 170 respondents; Martakert (town of Martakert), 140 respondents; Hadrut (town of Hadrut), 90 respondents; Shahumyan (town of Kalbajar), 20 respondents; Shushi (town of Shushi), 30 respondents; Kashatagh (town of Berdzor), 70 respondents. In each selected sampling point, the interviewers used the following route selection principle: In each city 3-20 starting points were selected (which can be schools, stations, squares, museums and other administrative objects). From the starting points, the interviewers chose the crossing streets, chose the first apartment building, and then the next third house in the case of houses and the fifth one in the case of apartment buildings. The survey questions were asked in the respondents’ native tongue, by professionally trained interviewers. In total, one supervisor, three field supervisors, seven regional supervisors, and 27 interviewers were involved. Each interviewer conducted three-five interviews daily, with the average interview lasting 30-40 minutes. The work of the interviewers was controlled with home visits during the interview (in five percent of cases), home visit after the interview (10 percent of cases), and telephone control (15 percent of cases). In total, 1,000 interviews were completed. Among them, 888 were completed during the first visit; the remaining 112, during a second visit. There were 83 refusals, 30 instances of nobody being at home, and 3 interviews that did not take place due to ill health.