Heydar Aliyev and Zbigniew Brzezinski - what did they agree on?..
The modern Republic of Azerbaijan occupies an important geographic location in the South Caucasus, being the western shore of the Caspian Sea and a “gateway” to the resource-rich region of Central Asia (historical Turkestan). Geography, as a rule, largely determines the policy of the state. And it is this geographical feature of Azerbaijan that has determined the role and place of the republic in the region, as well as in the system of geopolitical contradictions of the leading world actors. However, geography itself…
How about Leaving the South Caucasus Alone?
Why is the United States always meddling in the back yards of other major powers? Doesn’t anyone on Washington’s Think Tank Row ever wonder if the US may be destabilizing the world? An email notification I got this morning from Foreign Policy Magazine set me to thinking. 3:01 AM Athens, Greece time. Gmail notified me that I have a mail from Andrew Sollinger...
Central Asian and Middle Eastern Countries Step Up Cooperation
On November 28, the 15th Summit of the Leaders of the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) Member-States was held in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan, with the participation of the heads of state and governments of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey...
Why is There Now a Crisis in Relations Between Azerbaijan and Iran?
Recent weeks have seen a significant military escalation on the border between Azerbaijan and Iran. With belligerent statements made by both sides, Iranian troops are being transferred to the border with their northern neighbor. Explaining the move, Brigadier-General Mohammad Pakpour, commander of the Ground Forces of the Islamic...
Russia’s Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Industry and Its Relations with Azerbaijan
The Republic of Azerbaijan, a former Soviet state that is now a member of the CIS, is a long-term partner of Russia. Although it is not a member of such important (from Russia’s perspective international organizations as the EAEC (Eurasian Economic Union and the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization, Russia...
Saudi and Western Ponzi-Scheme vs. Regional Geopolitical Realities
The more you read, and read again, the same material but with the titles changed, the more disillusioned you become. It is as if the pundits just don’t get it, even to the extent of calling the South Caucasus part of Europe. In that particular case even Wikipedia is more accurate than most: Transcaucasia, also known as the South Caucasus...
How Russia and China are Reshaping the South Caucasus
The Russia brokered negotiated end of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has laid the basis for a major geo-political transformation of the South Caucasus. While Russia’s role in bringing the military conflict to an end and holding the ceasefire did put it in-charge of the South Caucasus, subsequent developments show how Russia has expanded its role and consolidated its position...
Nagorno-Karabakh: Erdogan Trying to Save Himself at the Expense of Others?
It is still difficult to find out what is actually going on in the NK conflict zone. News outlets are highly selective in their reporting, which is based more often than not on carefully controlled information drips from Azerbaijan and Armenia. The reports being shared back and forth on various sites are little more than versions of whose ox...
Azerbaijan and the Plans of Israeli Politicians
As the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh mushrooms, the Israeli-Azerbaijani arms trade is flourishing, and in this case Netanyahu’s government is being chiefly guided by economic benefits, with political calculations, or rather miscalculations, in second place after those. It should be pointed out that at present the Israeli economy is experiencing great difficulties due to the pandemic...
New US Ambassador to Azerbaijan is a First-Class Troublemaker
In early March, Washington sent a new ambassador to Azerbaijan that was appointed by the sitting US president Donald Trump personally. As it's been revealed by a number of media sources, Earle Litzenberger is a career member of the US State department that used to occupy the position...
Sanctions and Recent Policy Shifts in Armenian-Iranian Relations
Armenian-Iranian relations have the potential to achieve new levels of ‘amicable’ collaboration—if the two nations are left alone to deal with one another. Although few laypersons can even locate one or the other on a map, many soon will be able to as American sanctions on Iran impact...
Moscow Moves in to Provide a Counterweight to Israeli Behind-the-scenes Steps in Azerbaijan
On September 28, 2018 Russia’s Pravda news outlet published a story titled; “Putin in Azerbaijan: Israel will have to leave Moscow’s Sphere of Influence.” The story itself was sketchy on details of the exchange. “Russian President Vladimir Putin came to Baku to...