Question 13 from UPSC CSE 2023 - Internatio nal Relations

Question

Consider the following pairs:
1. North Kivu and Ituri - War between Armenia and Azerbaijan
2. Nagorno-Karabakh - Insurgency in Mozambique
3. Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - Dispute between Israel and Lebanon
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

IASCODEX · Accepted Answer

Correct Option: D. None

Strategy: Evaluate geographic pairs by verifying if the associated conflict aligns with the region's known geopolitical situation:

- North Kivu and Ituri are linked to the DRC's internal conflicts, not Armenia-Azerbaijan.
- Nagorno-Karabakh is the conflict zone between Armenia and Azerbaijan, not Mozambique.
- Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are key to the Russia-Ukraine war, not the Israel-Lebanon dispute.

Since none of the provided pairs correctly match their stated conflicts, all are incorrect.

Key Info: ### North Kivu and Ituri (DRC)

North Kivu and Ituri are provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), historically plagued by armed group violence, ethnic strife, and humanitarian crises. These conflicts are internal and not related to the Armenia-Azerbaijan war.

### Nagorno-Karabakh

Nagorno-Karabakh is a mountainous enclave in the South Caucasus, internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan but predominantly inhabited by ethnic Armenians. The region has been the subject of a prolonged territorial dispute and numerous wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan, most recently in 2020 and continuing thereafter. It is not connected to the insurgency in Mozambique.

### Kherson and Zaporizhzhia (Ukraine)

Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are oblasts in southern Ukraine. Since 2022, they have been major frontlines in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with partial or complete occupation by Russian forces and claimed annexation following referendums not recognized internationally. These regions are unrelated to the maritime or land border disputes between Israel and Lebanon.

The conflicts mentioned--DRC insurgencies, the Armenia-Azerbaijan dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, Mozambique's insurgency, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the Israel-Lebanon disputes--all pertain to separate geographic areas and actors. None of the pairs in the question are correctly matched to their actual conflict.

IASCODEX · Answer

Option A: Only one

IASCODEX · Answer

Option B: Only two

IASCODEX · Answer

Option C: All three

Consider the following pairs: North Kivu and Ituri - War between Armenia and Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh - Insurgency in Mozambique Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - Dispute between Israel and Lebanon How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?

Consider the following pairs:

North Kivu and Ituri - War between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Nagorno-Karabakh - Insurgency in Mozambique

Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - Dispute between Israel and Lebanon
How many of the above pairs are correctly matched?