Vol. 2, No. 24 (December 15, 2009)

Not by embassies alone: How Azerbaijan represents itself around the world

At the direction of President Ilham Aliyev, Baku has nearly doubled the number of its embassies over the last five years, but that achievement, which has stretched the diplomatic resources of the country, nevertheless means that Azerbaijan has had to adopt other means to reach out to many of the more than 100 countries around the world in which it does not have a diplomatic mission but with which it has important political and economic relations. Some of the mechanisms Azerbaijan has adopted will be quite familiar to students of the foreign relations of other countries, but others are mo...
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How Azerbaijan and Mexico could become strategic partners

Azerbaijan and Mexico would seem to have little reason to become strategic partners.  The two countries are located far from one another; they lack historic ties, and they are at very different points in their national development.  But despite what many would view as insuperable obstacles to cooperation, these two countries have good reasons and even good chances to become strategic partners.  And their experience in that regard is instructive for Azerbaijan’s possibilities in other regions of the world as well. Despite their differences, Azerbaijan and Mexico in fact h...
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Taking geopolitical risks into account in the formation of Azerbaijan’s foreign policy

Foreign policy as such represents an extremely complex process.  In this sphere, every term and concept must be used with absolute precision.  From this point of view, in contemporary policy in the use of terms like “national goals” and “national interests,” one must consider all their nuances.  Sometimes these concepts correspond: national interests are understood as national goals and conversely.  But in fact there are extremely precise differences between them.  The resolution of the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh can be presented as a national goal. &nbs...
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