Frozen conflict
In international relations, a frozen conflict is a situation in which active armed conflict has been brought to an end, but no peace treaty or other political framework resolves the conflict to the satisfaction of the combatants. Therefore, legally the conflict can start again at any moment, creating an environment of insecurity and instability.

The term has been commonly used for post-Soviet conflicts, but it has also often been applied to other perennial territorial disputes. The "de facto" situation that emerges may match the "de jure" position asserted by one party to the conflict; for example, Russia claims and has effectively controlled Crimea following the 2014 Crimean crisis, despite Ukraine's continuing claim to the region. Alternatively, the "de facto" situation may not match either side's official claim. The division of Korea is an example of the latter situation: both the South Korea and the North Korea officially assert claims to the entire peninsula; however, there exists a well-defined border between the two countries' areas of control.

Frozen conflicts sometimes result in partially recognized states. For example, the Republic of South Ossetia, a product of the frozen Georgian–Ossetian conflict, is recognized by eight other states, including five UN members; the other three of these entities are partially recognized states themselves.
Q166542
international relations
Concept
Q198
active armed conflict
Concept
Q625298
peace treaty
Concept
Q1975306
post-Soviet conflicts
UNK
Q1078001
territorial dispute
Concept
Q712144
de facto
Concept
Q132555
de jure
Concept
Q159
Russia
LOC
Q7835
Crimea
LOC
Q15920546
2014 Crimean crisis
EVE
Q212
Ukraine
LOC
Q498735
division of Korea
LOC
Q884
South Korea
LOC
Q423
North Korea
LOC
Q199683
partially recognized state
Concept
Q23427
Republic of South Ossetia
ORG
Q29242
Georgian–Ossetian conflict
EVE
Q1996835
recognized
Concept
Q14395607
Frozen conflict
Concept
2014-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2014
DATE
territory claimed by
territory claimed by
participant
location
participant
territory claimed by
location