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WASHINGTON, D.C. – Discussions on the South Caucasus region at the first US Congress session this year will focus on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh, Azerbaijan’s energy sector, Armenia’s economic development, and rehabilitation in Georgia after the Russian incursion in 2008, a US expert in Russian and Eurasian affairs said in a report.

The Congressional Research Service’s report by Jim Nichol, titled "Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests", was drawn up for Congress members and committees.

Nichol recalled that during the OSCE summit held in Astana in early December, the U.S. and Russia faced a dispute over the issue of Georgia’s territorial integrity. Hovewer, he reminded that the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia and the mediating countries’ senior officials had issued a joint statement saying "the time has come for more decisive efforts" to resolve the Nagorno Karabakh conflict.

The report said that the US policy toward the South Caucasus states has included promoting the resolution of conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the Nagorno Karabakh region and between Georgia and its breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Since 1993, US emissaries have been detailed to try to settle these conflicts.

Some observers argue that developments in the South Caucasus are largely marginal to US strategic interests. They urge great caution in adopting policies that will heavily involve the United States in a region beset by ethnic and civil conflicts, and some argue that, since the European Union has recognized the region as part of its "neighborhood," it rightfully should play a major role. Some observers argue that the US interest in democratization should not be subordinated to interests in energy and anti-terrorism.

Other observers believe that US policy now requires more active engagement in the region. They urge greater US aid and conflict resolution efforts to contain warfare, crime, smuggling, and extremism and to bolster the independence of the states. Some argue that such enhanced US relations also would serve to "contain" Russian and Iranian influence and that close US ties with Azerbaijan could benefit US relations with other Islamic countries.

Nichol wrote that Azerbaijan and Georgia were among the countries that openly pledged to support the U.S.-led Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), with both offering the use of their airbases, and to assist the United States in re-building Iraq. Both countries agreed to participate, subject to US financial support, in the multinational stabilization force for Iraq. In August 2003, both Azerbaijan and Georgia dispatched forces to Iraq. Azerbaijan’s 150 troops pulled out in late 2008. Georgia augmented its troops over time until 2,000 were serving in 2007-2008, the third-largest number of troops in Iraq, after the United States and the United Kingdom. Virtually all of these troops were pulled out in August 2008 in connection with the Russia-Georgia conflict.

The report noted that Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan reportedly are the main overflight, refueling, and landing routes for US and coalition troops bound for Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan also is a major land transport route for military fuel, food, and construction supplies.

It said that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates thanked President Ilham Aliyev for his country’s contributions to operations in Afghanistan and assured him of continued US strategic interests in Azerbaijan. Gates delivered a letter from President Barack Obama reportedly stressing these points.

The report further said that some argue that energy resources in the Caspian region are a central US strategic interest, because Azerbaijani and Central Asian oil and natural gas deliveries could somewhat lessen Western energy dependency on Russia and the Middle East.