The Karabagh conflict claimed the lives of some 30.000 people and left more then a million people displaced. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan suffered heavy losses. The two countries are still technically at war and the chances of resumption of war are increasing by time. On the surface it appears as a remote ethnic clash in the Caucasus. In reality the conflict is a complex web of regional interests and alliances. A web that involves all the major powers of the region. This report explains the basic origins of the Karabagh conflict.