Welcome to The Frozen Conflict Dataset webpage 

We singled out frozen conflicts as a category of conflicts that is neither spatially nor temporally specific.
To facilitate a more holistic and rigorous study of this phenomenon, we have developed
The Frozen Conflict Dataset (FCD).

The dataset was prepared by Kamil Klosek, Vojtěch Bahenský, Michal Smetana, and Jan Ludvík as part
of the PRCP research program on frozen conflicts and published in the Journal of Peace Research article
Frozen conflicts in world politics: A new dataset.

Previous publications on frozen conflicts from the authors of the dataset also include a special issue on
frozen conflicts in Asia Europe Journal.

We defined a frozen conflict as a: “(…) protracted, post-war conflict process, characterized by the absence
of stable peace between the opposing sides. In frozen conflicts, core issues between the opposing sides
remain unresolved, the dispute is in the forefront of mutual relations, and there is a looming threat of the
renewal of violence. The conflict also remains highly salient in the domestic discourses of both policy makers
and the general population.” (Smetana & Ludvik 2019: 4).

Using this definition, we identified 42 cases of frozen conflicts in the period from 1946 to 2011.
Of those, 25 are ‘traditional’ interstate conflicts, whereas 17 are conflicts between a state and a de facto state.

Figures:

This dataset could not have seen the light of day without the helpful comments of PRCP principle
investigator Harald Müller and help from our interns who worked on coding and narratives.
Namely Gabriel Ardanaz, Pavlina Boyanova, Zuzana Buronova, Anja Burlica, Matěj Čadek,
Sam Carruthers, Alexandre Cuby, Erin Currie, Tetyana Demyanchuk, Nicole Ely, Frederik Gergerly,
Miroslava Kuľková, Dominique Linhares, Filip Mocak, Simone Neads, Mathieu Rochambeau,
Daniela Serrano, Yevgenyia Soldatova, and Wietse Straatsma.

The dataset

The dataset is available in a cross-sectional format and can be expanded into a panel data format using information about conflict start and conflict end. Gleditsch & Ward (1999) state identifiers render the dataset compatible with COW and UCDP data. Additional variables provide information about conflict end type and
right-censoring. We also add a variable to differentiate between frozen conflicts involving two regular states
and those involving a state and a de facto state, as well as an indicator of whether the initial war surpassed the threshold of 500 or 1,000 battle deaths. Lastly, two descriptive variables provide very brief textual descriptions
of the conflict end and the core issue. Summary narratives were produced for each frozen conflict.

More detailed information is available in the accompanying codebook.

Please cite:

Klosek K. C., Bahenský, V., Smetana M., Ludvík J. (2021) Frozen conflicts in world politics: A new dataset. Journal of Peace Research. 58(4), 849–858. (online first 2020). DOI: 10.1177/0022343320929726

*conflict ongoing by 2011

Further readings on frozen conflicts

• Aggestam K., Björkdahl A. (2011). Just peace postponed: unending peace processes and frozen conflicts.

• Bláhová, P. (2019). Nagorno-Karabakh: obstacles to the resolution of the frozen conflict. Asia Eur J. 17, 69-85

• Blank, S. (2008). Russia and the Black Sea’s frozen conflicts in strategic perspective. Mediterr Q. 19(3), 23-54

• Broers, L. (2015). From “frozen conflict” to enduring rivalry: reassessing the Nagorny Karabakh conflict. Nationalities Papers. 43(4), 556-576

• Cornell, S. E. (ed.) (2017). The International Politics of the Armenian-Azerbaijani Conflict: The Original “Frozen Conflict” and European Security. Palgrave Macmillan, New York

• Dembinska, M., Campana, A. (2017). Frozen conflicts and internal dynamics of de facto states: perspectives and directions for research. Int Stud Rev. 19(1), 1-25

• Dembińska, M., Mérand, F. (2019). The role of international brokers in frozen conflicts: the case of transnistria. Asia Eur J. 17, 15-30

• Ditrych, O. (2019). Georgia’s frosts: ethnopolitical conflict as assemblage. Asia Eur J. 17, 47-67

• Faber, M. J. (2000). Cold Wars and Frozen Conflicts: The European Experience. In: Kaldor, M. (ed) Global Insecurity. Bloomsbury Academic, London, 53-94

• Felician, S. (2011). North and South Korea: A Frozen Conflict on the Verge of Unfreezing?. IAI Working Papers 11/24

• Fernández-Molina, I. (2019). Bottom-up change in frozen conflicts: Transnational struggles and mechanisms of recognition in Western Sahara. Review of International Studies, 45(3), 407-430

• Fernández-Molina, I., Porges, M. (2019). Western Sahara. Routledge Handbook of State Recognition, 376-390

• Fregoso, C. C., Zivkovic, N. (2012). Western Sahara: a frozen conflict. Journal of Regional Security 7(2), 139-150

• Ganguly, S., Smetana, M., Abdullah, S. et al. (2019). India, Pakistan, and the Kashmir dispute: unpacking the dynamics of a South Asian frozen conflict. Asia Eur J, 17, 129-143

• Grzelczyk, V. (2019). Threading on thin ice? Conflict dynamics on the Korean Peninsula. Asia Eur J, 17, 31-45

• Japaridze, T., Rondeli, A. (2004). Europe is on Georgia’s mind. In: Asmus, R. D., Dimitrov, K., Forbrig, J. (eds). A new Euro-Atlantic strategy for the Black Sea region. German Marshall Fund of the United States, Washington, D.C., 40-47

• Lynch, D. (2004). Engaging Eurasia's Separatist States: Unresolved Conflicts and De Facto States. United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington, D.C.

• Lynch, D. (2005). New thinking about 'frozen' conflicts. Hels Monit 16(3), 192-195

• Morar, F. (2010). The Myth of 'Frozen Conflicts': Transcending Illusive Dilemmas. per Concordiam: Journal of European Security and Defence Issues 1(2)

• Perry, V. (2009). At cross purposes? Democratization and peace implementation strategies in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s frozen conflict. Hum Rights Rev 10(1), 35-54

• Perry, V. (2019). Frozen, stalled, stuck, or just muddling through: the post-Dayton frozen conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Asia Eur J, 17, 107-127

• Souleimanov, E. A., Abbasov, N., Siroky, D. S. (2019). Frankenstein in Grozny: vertical and horizontal cracks in the foundation of Kadyrov’s rule. Asia Eur J, 17, 87-103

• Tudoroiu, T. (2016). Unfreezing failed frozen conflicts: a post-Soviet case study. J Contemp Eur Stud, 24(3), 375-396

• Welt, C. (2010). The thawing of a frozen conflict: the internal security dilemma and the 2004 prelude to the Russo-Georgian War. Eur Asia Stud, 62(1), 63-97

• Wolff, S. (2011). A resolvable frozen conflict? Designing a settlement for Transnistria. Nationalities Papers, 39(6), 863-870