Azerbaijan has grown into staunch ally of U.S.: expert
An article titled "Contrast in the Caucasus" by Alexandros Petersen was published on the U.S.-based website "The National Interest".
The article reads that two of the countries in the South Caucasus that emerged from Soviet rule more than twenty years ago have taken very different paths, their individual relationships with Moscow diverging ever since independence.
" Armenia has become ever closer to Russia while Azerbaijan has grown into a staunch ally of the United States and the broader West. Why, then, does the United States continue to lump Armenia and Azerbaijan together when their strategic importance to Washington is completely imbalanced?" Petersen asks.
"Soldiers from Muslim-majority Azerbaijan have contributed to U.S. missions in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Azerbaijan has played a major part in the so-called Northern Distribution Network of supply routes to and from Afghanistan. Azerbaijan is the linchpin in achieving European energy security. Its state energy company is building a series of pipelines-longer than Keystone XL-from the Caspian to Italy and thenceforth to Central Europe.
Due to its location just to the north of Iran, Azerbaijan is an important partner for information collection and will prove indispensable should conflict break out. It already has a close security relationship with Israel that includes the joint manufacture of drones. Armenia, by contrast, has close international relationships with only two countries: Russia and Iran.
In U.S. minds, however, Armenia and Azerbaijan are linked especially because of the ongoing conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, internationally recognized Azerbaijani territory that has been in Armenia`s hands since the end of the Cold War. Lobbyists for the Armenian side have powerful friends in Congress. But that conflict should not tie together U.S. policy toward the two countries.
Two recent developments underscore the strategic implications of the contrast: in mid-August, Russian president Vladimir Putin paid a respectful visit to Azerbaijan, and in early September, Armenia decided to join Russia`s neo-Soviet Customs Union.
For U.S. policy, it is important not just to understand the differences, but to predicate relationships and actions on this regional reality. To treat Azerbaijan and Armenia equally would be to akin to keeping one`s head in the sand.
On his recent trip to the Azerbaijani capital Baku, however, Putin was notably deferential to President Ilham Aliyev, both publicly and privately. This seems like a sign of respect for Azerbaijan`s growing status in the region and the world. Usually, a visit by Putin sends a strong enough message from Moscow, but in Azerbaijan, the Russian president felt the need to show that Russia was interested in closer relations with the energy-rich Caspian country.
It would be ideal to engage the South Caucasus region as a whole, to approach the small states of Azerbaijan and Armenia both as strategic partners in a difficult neighborhood and move toward conflict settlement between them. But, the reality is that Azerbaijan has staked out its sovereignty-with the help of oil and gas wealth-whereas Armenia has largely abrogated its independent policy making. This is not to say that Washington should not engage Armenia-a strong relationship with Yerevan would be most welcome given the circumstances. But, it does call for a recalibration of policy to work more closely with Azerbaijan, which would result in strategic dividends for both the United States and Azerbaijan."