Azerbaijan Point Paper

SUBJECT: Assessment of the Caucasus Region 1. ISSUE. Provide the USEUCOM Commander an overview of Azerbaijan’s approach to the situation in the Caucasus Region. 2. Facts. a. Azerbaijan’s primary national interests in regards to the Caucasus Region are security and economy. The development of strong, secure and democratic nations within the Caucasus Region is strategically important to European and United States interests. Azerbaijan has moved to align with Western States and joined NATO actions within the region. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline has strengthened Azerbaijan’s economic position within the region and status with the European community. Azerbaijan has joined the West in the war on terror and is an important part within the Caucasus Region for the movement of troops and supplies into the operational theater by granting over flight rights. b. Objective(s) in pursuit of the primary national interests: 1) Azerbaijan will maintain its independence and reduction of civil internal turmoil in the Nagorno-Karabakh region through alliances with the European Union and the United States as well as stronger border security. 2) Security of the BTC pipeline will provide regional energy independence from Russia and economic stability to the nation. c. Azerbaijan’s most likely actions: 3) Diplomatic: A neutral foreign policy in which Azerbaijan will seek to maintain relations within the region that will allow the country to prevent undue influence on its citizenry. A former Soviet satellite and a Muslim country, Azerbaijan has retained foreign relations with Russia and Iran yet sought close alliance with Europe and the United States. 4) Informational: Azerbaijan must maintain transparency within its government. In a nation with a high literacy rate it is important for media coverage to maintain a positive view of internal actions; especially within the...
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