Azerbaijan and Russia: Towards a Renewed Alliance, for a New Era

Abstract

This article examines the recent shifts in Azerbaijan’s balancing of relations between Russia and the West. It argues that the Azerbaijani elite have been undergoing a shift from placing more emphasis on its relations with the West, towards an emerging strategic accord with Moscow. There are both micro- and macrogeopolitical developments driving this process. On a micro-level, the Azeri elite has gradually come to distrust the West’s intention to and capability of supporting them in their core security and state development aims. From a macro-perspective, shifts in geopolitical alliances around Azerbaijan are acting to attract Baku towards Moscow, and away from Brussels and Washington.