Vol. 1, No. 4 (March 15, 2008)

NATO and Azerbaijan

An Interview with Robert Simmons, NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia...
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Azerbaijan’s borders: The shadow of the ADR’s experience today

As Azerbaijanis approach the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) on May 28th, they are taking pride in the fact that their forefathers were the first in the entire Muslim world to launch a secular newspaper, a modern theater and opera, and a democratic state in which women were given the right to vote.  But they are also thinking about that republic’s experience with defining its territory and establishing its borders, reflections that could have an impact on Baku’s policies in the future.  From the first day of its ...
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Kosovo’s long-term impact on Europe: The implications for Azerbaijan

Many analysts have discussed the possible impact of Kosovo’s declaration of independence and European recognition of that act on the so-called “frozen” conflicts in the post-Soviet space, including Nagorno-Karabakh.  But there is a larger if longer term set of implications of these events for Azerbaijan that so far have attracted little attention.  They involve the possible effect of the inclusion of the Muslim population of Kosovo and other parts of the Balkans on Europe’s future willingness to accept Turkey and in the more distant future Azerbaijan as members of the E...
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New book documents: Armenian eradication of Azerbaijani culture in the occupied territories

The fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh and adjoining areas has frequently been accompanied by charges made by one side always denied by the other that its opponents are engaging in acts of genocide.  But because the actions that support such charges typically have involved deaths and expulsions which took place during the course of combat operations, each side has generally if not always convincingly invoked military necessity to justify what it has done, claims that should never be allowed to minimize the human suffering involved but ones that sufficiently muddy ...
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