Azerbaijan’s tradition of religious tolerance, when compared to the situation found in many countries in the region, and its location at the crossroads of various faiths, many of whom often lack either a venue or an opportunity for conversations with those of other denominations, were highlighted at an international conference in Baku November 6-7 on “Inter-Religious Dialogue: From Mutual Understanding to Joint Cooperation.” Timed to coincide with the 60th birthday and 30th year in office of Sheikh ul-Islam Allahshhukur Pashazade, the head of the Muslim Spiritual Directorate (MSD) ...

According to the Global Competitiveness Report (GCR) 2009-2010 recently released by the World Economic Forum (WEF), Azerbaijan rose on that organization’s list of the most competitive countries from 69 to 51 in only one year, a remarkable achievement and one far greater than any other country over the last 12 months has accomplished.  And it is especially impressive compared with the situation of other CIS countries:  Azerbaijan outranked all of them and achieved a rise in the rankings when some of them, including the Russian Federation, fell.  How did that happen at a t...

The emotions, whipped up by commentaries which followed the signing on October 10 of the protocols between Turkey and Armenia, have prevented a logical analysis of the situation.  In order to begin such an analysis, we need to recognize that at the roots of the signing of these accords lie a multi-sided game of significance far beyond the South Caucasus region. If at the outset, the opening of the borders with Armenia was one of the conditions on Turkey’s path toward joining the European Union, then at the present time, the rapprochement of the two countries depends on the geopoli...