Regional Strategic Concept Point Paper

Regional Strategic Concept Point Paper

1. What is Azerbaijan's primary national interest in regards to the Caucasus Region?

The primary national interest of Azerbaijan in the Caucasus Region is the economy and security. As a matter of fact, Azerbaijan has huge natural resources of energy which it exports to the European markets and other countries. The Caucasus region facilitates the transport links to the Europe, Central Asia, China and the Mediterranean. These resources of the Azerbaijan as well the importance of the Caucasus region brings this region into the limelight to Azerbaijan. In addition to that, the energy resources of the Caspian region are key to the limiting the dependency of Europe on Russia (Corboy et. al, 2013).

The Azerbaijan's other national interest is the security issues which are lingering there over a period of time. The war between Azerbaijan and Armenia about two decades ago over the Nagorno-Karabakh, which s an ethnic Armenian majority area in the Azerbaijan, made many people displaces this lead to the occupation of the surrounding districts of Azerbaijan near the Nagorno-Karabakh. The truce concluded in the year 1994, which ceased the occasional shootings.

The reason for Azerbaijan's prime national interest of security is due to that fact that it continues to weather threats in terms of the sustainable economic development and issues related to security. The regional as well as geopolitical situations remained tense. The logjam in the peace process with Armenia as well as disturbance between the military sides is growing on a daily basis. Azerbaijan is striving to maintain cordial relationships with Russia, but the latest expulsion of the Russian radar station from the geography of Azerbaijan has made the situation more badly. Moreover, the extensive involvement of military in the Caspian Sea is further complementing the situation of Azerbaijan's security (Ismailzade, 2013).

2. What objectives will Azerbaijan pursue in support of this interest?

In order to support these interests, Azerbaijan has to opt for an active multifaceted diplomacy to make sure that its safety, security and economic aims being achieved. Politically, Azerbaijan has benefited from the boom of oil revenues. Yet these revenues are forecasted to decline in the near future unless the authorities focus in diversifying the economy and reducing the country's reliance over the oil and gas sector. All of these situations might lead to the Socio economic turbulence and internal instability. If these things happen, Azerbaijan might become a vulnerable target of external threats and propaganda. In spite of the passage of 20 successful years of independence, Azerbaijan continues to locate itself on highly fragile geo-political and geo-economic vicinity. The instability related to economic and political concerns remains on peak, as in Azerbaijan there are both internal as well as external threats available, which a hovering over the period of time.

In order to cope with these multifaceted issues, Azerbaijan must put forth an active international diplomacy and agile economic reforms within its territory. It is vital for Azerbaijan to have genuine relationships within the region ...