AZERBAIJAN AND EUROPE: TOWARD CLOSER INTEGRATION?
By Fariz Ismailzade (1/24/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: In December, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev traveled to Brussels to meet with EU and NATO officials, and to sign the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan. This agreement has started a new chapter and is aimed at further deepening relations between Azerbaijan and the EU and the integration of the country into European structures. Similar agreements have been signed with Armenia and Georgia, and Azerbaijan’s Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO is already under implementation.CAN THE EU RESOLVE THE UZBEKISTAN DILEMMA IN 2007?
By Richard Weitz (1/24/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Several factors have led Central Asia to assume a prominent place on the agenda at recent EU meetings. First, continued friction with Russia over energy issues has increased European interest in importing oil and natural gas from Central Asian countries as well as in promoting these states’ independence from Moscow. Second, some EU members, such as Germany, have substantial commercial interests in Central Asian countries that extend beyond their energy trade.AZERBAIJAN AND GEORGIA: PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH MOSCOW
By Alexandros Petersen and Taleh Ziyadov (1/10/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia’s relations with both Azerbaijan and Georgia have been complicated. During the first and second Yeltsin administrations (1992-1999), Moscow\'s ambiguous and chaotic foreign policy led to repeated diplomatic and political crises with Baku and Tbilisi. Hoping to keep the two states under Russia\'s control, the Yeltsin administration applied political pressure and adopted harsh policies towards them.WALKING A TIGHTROPE: AZERBAIJAN AND THE POLITICS OF IRANIAN NUCLEAR WEAPONS
By Stephen Blank (1/10/2007 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: It is unlikely that the Azerbaijani regime has any illusions about the threat that a nuclear Iran could pose to it and the region. Nonetheless its decision reflects the current geopolitical balance in and around the Caspian with regard to Iranian nuclearization. For some time now there have been signs that Azerbaijan was concerned that any aggravation of the crisis around Iran, e.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Greater Central Asia as A Component of U.S. Global Strategy, October 2024.
Analysis Laura Linderman, "Rising Stakes in Tbilisi as Elections Approach," Civil Georgia, September 7, 2024.
Analysis Mamuka Tsereteli, "U.S. Black Sea Strategy: The Georgian Connection", CEPA, February 9, 2024.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, ed., Türkiye's Return to Central Asia and the Caucasus, July 2024.
Book Svante E. Cornell, ed., "The Changing Geopolitics of Central Asia and the Caucasus" AFPC Press/Armin LEar, 2023.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell and S. Frederick Starr, Stepping up to the “Agency Challenge”: Central Asian Diplomacy in a Time of Troubles, July 2023.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.