What American politicians fail to understand (or at least it seems to me) is that today's Azerbaijan is quite a different place than the chaotic, war-torn, nearly failed state that the United States dealt with in its early years of independence. ~ Thomas Goltz
Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani:Azərbaycan), officially theRepublic of Azerbaijan (Azerbaijani:Azərbaycan Respublikası), is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Its capital isBaku, the Caspian Sea coastal city. Located at the crossroads of EasternEurope and WesternAsia, it is bounded by theCaspian Sea to the east,Russia to the north,Georgia to the northwest,Armenia to the west, andIran to the south.TheNakhichevan Autonomous Republic (an exclave of Azerbaijan) borders Armenia to the north and east, Iran to the south and west, andTurkey to the northwest. TheNagorno-Karabakh region in the southwest of Azerbaijan proper declared itself independent from Azerbaijan in 1991, but it was not recognized by any nation and was considered a legal part of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan reconquered the region in 2023.
Azerbaijan is a secular state, and has been a member of theCouncil of Europe since 2001. The Azerbaijani people (or simply Azeris) are the majority population, most of whom (about 85%) are traditionally adherents ofShi'ism. The remaining Muslims are Sunni. Other religions includeRussian Orthodoxy (2.5%),Armenian Apostolic (2.3%), other (6%). The country is formally anemerging democracy, but with strongauthoritarian rule.
Important projects initiated by Azerbaijan are being carried out in order to meet the energy demand not only of the region, but also theEuropean continent, The country is absolutely independent in this area,” the minister said. “We even sell energy and the energy carriers to other countries. At the same time, Azerbaijan, thanks to the reforms held, is reducing its dependence onoil, and the country’s economy will develop in the future as well.
A Formula One race will improve our country's image. When we took an obligation to host this event two years ago, we could not forecast such a sharp decline in the oil price
By mid-1921, theRed Army had overcome opposition in the Caucasus andCentral Asia, although itsinvasion of Poland in 1920 was driven back. These conflicts were linked to rivalry between the great powers. The conflict in the Caucasus was in part an instance of the struggle betweenBritain and the Soviet Union. TheBritish sawArmenia, Azerbaijan andGeorgia, each of which briefly became independent in theRussian Civil War, as a buffer for their interests inIraq,Persia (Iran) andIndia; and as a source of raw materials, notablyoil from Azerbaijan and access tooil fromGeorgia. In late 1918, theBritish landed troops in the Black Sea port of Batumi, the terminus of therailway to the oil-producing centre of Baku on theCaspian Sea. This was a commitment advocated byMackinder. Torpedo-armed coastal motor boats were sent overland to the Caspian Sea. However, under pressure from too many commitments, the British withdrew their forces from late 1919. Benefiting from the divisions between the Caucasus republics, the Soviets advanced and took them over in 1920–1.
Jeremy Black,The Cold War: A Military History (2015)
While separatistnationalisms developed and were increasingly expressed, there was no protracted attempt to use the extensive military resources of the Soviet state to prevent the collapse of theSoviet Union. Already, in 1986–7, the government had refused to employ force to support party leaders in the Baltic Republics. When the crisis rose to a height, counterreform attempts by theSoviet military, keen to preserve the integrity of the state, led to action against nationalists in Georgia (1989), Azerbaijan (1990),Lithuania (1991),Latvia (1991), andMoldova (1992). However, these steps were small-scale, and there was no significant violent supporting action by the 25 millionRussians living within the Soviet Union but outside Russia, those, for example, who played a key role incrises inCrimea and easternUkraine in 2014.
Jeremy Black,The Cold War: A Military History (2015)
Most narratives about the end of theSoviet Union focus on Baltic, Georgian and Ukrainian activism, but there is a powerful case to be made that the USSR died on the streets of Baku in January 1990 when Moscow dispatched units of the Sovietmilitary to put down theaspirations of the Azerbaijani people forfreedom andindependence.
Tehran’s Center for the Study of Iran and Eurasia says that plans approved by the leaders of Azerbaijan and Iran in Tashkent a week ago to open a corridor via Iranian territory between Azerbaijan and Nakhchivan represent “a strategic breakthrough” for both countries.
WhatAmerican politicians fail to understand (or at least it seems to me) is that today's Azerbaijan is quite a different place than the chaotic, war-torn, nearly failed state that theUnited States dealt with in its early years of independence.
Thomas Goltz, www.foreignpolicy.com, June 11, 2010,Bad Blood in Baku. The angry ally Obama can't afford to lose[1].
For the past 10-15 years, the number of protected areas, national parks and nature reserves have increased dramatically in the country. Some years ago, the residents of the regions killed wild animals to protect their livestock from predators. To protect the wild nature the government pays compensation to residents who suffered losses, with the condition that they will not kill wild animals any more. For the past 4-5 years the government have conducted several projects on modernization and reconstruction of water mains and sewer lines in rural areas located on the banks of these rivers. Special equipment cleans waste waters, and sewage water do not dump directly into these rivers
We hope these tensions won't do a major damage to relations between the regional countries [referring toTurkey]. We also maintain very close relations withRussia and hence we'll do everything in our power to tap a way out of this crisis
The European companies are operating here to demonstrate their experience that Azerbaijan could use in practice. Azerbaijan and theEU enjoy very close relations that develop from year to year. We hope to get Azerbaijani gas in 2020. Moreover, according to available information, the implementation of TANAP project is ahead of schedule.
Although there was peaceful abandonment ofcommunism in most states of the former Soviet Union, some terrible exceptions occurred.Russian and Moldovan elites fought for supremacy inMoldova (which had dropped its Soviet name of Moldavia). Tribal and religious rivalries produced a viciouscivil war inTajikistan on theAfghan border.Chechnya rose in revolt against theRussian Federation. A bloody war sputtered on between Armenia and Azerbaijan about the Armenian-inhabited enclave inKarabagh. But it could have been so much worse and most of the countries of the former USSR at least achieved independence without bloodshed.
Robert Service,Comrades!: A History of World Communism (2010)
Although cooperation betweenLatvia and Azerbaijan has deepened in recent years, I consider that there is still huge potential for the further expansion of our relations, especially in political, economic, and cultural areas,
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