Prospects of Baku-Washington relations after U.S. presidential elections
By Gunay Hasanova
While the presidential race is gaining a new pace in the United States, the suppositions about the successful candidate are going on.
The U.S will hold the next presidential elections on November 8, 2016, to elect its 58th president.
The Democratic Party’s candidate is the former U.S. Secretary of State, former first lady, senator from New York for 2001-2009, Hilary Clinton, while the Republican Party’s candidate and Clinton’s opponent is the businessmen and political figure Donald Trump.
The current campaigning suggests the elections become potentially surprising able to stick it in history with many extraordinary episodes.
The elections tend to have an impact on U.S. - Azerbaijani relations as well.
The former U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, former U.S. ambassador to Azerbaijan Matthew Bryza believes that the presidency of candidate Hillary Clinton would be more effective for building a strong relationship with Azerbaijan.
“Clinton will be able to better promote the interests of the U.S. and NATO countries in the South Caucasus”, said Bryza.
Bryza, who worked together with Hillary Clinton when she served as Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013, stressed that the Democratic candidate has all the necessary intellectual skills to implement the strategy, which will strengthen the U.S. interests in an important part of the South Caucasus.
Clinton has a complete knowledge regarding the strategic picture in the region,” he added.
However, Bryza said, that none of the above said can be referred to Donald Trump, who lacks sufficient knowledge, skills, and experience with respect to the specifics of the South Caucasus, adding that Trump accidentally admitted during the second debates that he doesn’t know anything even about Russia.
Moreover, Bryza expressed his concern that the possible presidency of Trump would tense situation not only in South Caucasus but also in other regions.
“In case if Trump wins, Moscow will get a clear advantage in the region against the background of the U.S. presidency, a person that has no experience in politics, and does not possess the necessary work strategy,” he said.
Trump's victory could have a negative impact also on the relations between Russia and the United States, Bryza said.
The Chairman of the EuropeanInstitute for Caucasus and Caspian Studies in Berlin, Matthias Dornfeld belives that Hillary Clinton will be an active player in foreign policy and Caspian issues if she is elected.
“Clinton is more experienced in the field of foreign policy since she has been the first lady and the secretary of state from 2009 to 2013,” Dornfeld told Trend on October 12.
Dornfeld said it is difficult to assess what foreign policy initiatives will be started by Donald Trump since he is not into the region that much.
More people in the U.S. think Clinton has the right kind of temperament and personality to be a good president.
Hence, Clinton holds a big demographic advantage over Trump.
As the conducted survey and poll results in the U.S. indicates 69 percent of non-whites and 52 per cent women favor Clinton, while 57 percent of whites and men support the Republicans.
Earlier, Donald Trump also stated that the United States should only intervene in conflicts around the world when America is directly threatened, not simply for humanitarian purposes, adding that he supports dictators throughout the world if they ensure stability.
Consequently, his presidency would not be beneficial for a country like Azerbaijan, which suffers from a lengthy war with Armenia, he stressed.
As a result of the occupation and ethnic cleansing policy of Armenia, Azerbaijan has over 1 million IDPs. Nowadays, with a population of over 9.6 million, Azerbaijan is among the countries carrying the highest IDP caseload in the world in per capita terms.
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Gunay Hasanova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @gunhasanova
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