Azernews.Az

A conference on "Development of the U.S. strategy in the South Caucasus and the Caspian Basin" has been held in the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in Washington D.C., U.S, on June 26.
Azerbaijani MP, Democratic Reforms Party chairman Asim Mollazade represented the Azerbaijani side at the conference. Well known scholars, including Ariel Cohen, Frederick Starr, Alexandros Petersen, Stephen Blank, Janusz Bugajski, Ghia Nodia and Tuncay Babali attended the event.
The importance of the South Caucasus and the Caspian basin for the U.S. strategic interests was the main focus of the conference. Heritage Foundation leading expert on Russia, Eurasia and international energy security Ariel Cohen said that now the United States are less represented in the South Caucasus, giving place to other countries.
"As for Georgia, we see that the countries of the Persian Gulf are represented there. There are mainly Turkey and Russia with their energy cooperation in Azerbaijan. The situation with Armenia is a little more complicated in the context of the ongoing conflict. But if we are not represented in this country, there will be someone else," Cohen said.
Speaking about the future of the region, Cohen pointed out to a key role in energy transit from the Caspian the Caucasus will play.
"The current U.S. administration must understand that while solving the problem with Afghanistan and Iran, it is also necessary to hold regional and bilateral policy with the Caucasus", Cohen said. He said the Obama administration should send people to the region, who have worked there earlier and are familiar with the regional politics.
Washington should specify its intentions and plans about the region to secure the successful continuation of the partnership between the U.S. and Azerbaijan, Asim Mollazade said.
"There is no real U.S. presence in the South Caucasus and the Caspian Basin. Moreover, a number of negative trends, coming from Washington, including its desire for a hypothetical rapprochement between Turkey and Armenia, instead of promoting a real peace in the region, made many in Azerbaijan to question the role of the United States in the South Caucasus", Mollazade said.
An expert from the Washington DC based Atlantic Council, Alexandros Petersen said that now the U.S. position in the South Caucasus is the weakest one after the collapse of the Soviet Union. "The plans for the opening of Turkish-Armenian border have alienated Azerbaijan from the U.S., and deteriorated U.S relations with Armenia and Turkey", Petersen said.
An expert from the Washington DC based Atlantic Council, Alexandros Petersen said that the U.S. positions in the South Caucasus now is in the weakest state since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
"The plans for the opening of Turkish-Armenian border have alienated Azerbaijan from the U.S., and deteriorated U.S relations with Armenia and Turkey", Petersen said.
According to him, the U.S. should seriously change its strategy towards the region.
"The U.S must demonstrate its presence through diplomatic, economic, cultural channels. Shortly, they must abandon attempts to approach the South Caucasus and the Caspian region as to the range of someone's special interests."
The U.S Army War College professor Stephen Blank explained the U.S strategic failure in the region by the fact that Washington pays insufficient attention to issues of regional security.
"The U.S., considering transnational threats as a priority, must not ignore the regional threats. The U.S must try to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Grabagh conflict, which is the main knot of the South Caucasus", Blank said.
He said that there is a direct dependence between the opening of Turkish-Armenian border and the settlement of Nagorno-Grabagh conflict.
"To separate them is not the U.S. national interests. The country must not view Azerbaijan as a state that helps it in Afghanistan. The U.S. must realize the importance of Azerbaijan."