Azernews.Az

WASHINGTON, D.C. - US analyst on Russia and South Caucasus sees much less possibility of Georgia or Azerbaijan joining NATO since the Russian-Georgian war in 2008.

Mr. Ronald Grigor Suny, a senior historian at the University of Michigan and a political science professor at the University of Chicago, said in an interview with the Baku-based APA news agency that the South Caucasus is a region of considerable conflicting interests between the two superpowers - Russia and the United States.

"With Russia prepared to move across the Caucasus, and the South Caucasus states being relatively weaker than Russia, it is unlikely that NATO would have a meaningful presence in the region. If NATO was imaginative, it would expand in one particular way – make Russia a member! This way an alliance that was formed against the Soviet Union would turn into a collective security pact to deal with conflicts among its members."

Mr. Suny says the United States has backed down a little from its fairly expansionist policy of global hegemony during the Bush administration, so the door has opened somewhat for better relations with Russia.

"Together the U.S. and Russia could show their good will and the advantages of cooperation by solving one of the regional conflicts, perhaps the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Nagorno Karabakh. It is time for some creative thinking… and compromise from all sides," he said.