Postcolonial Hybridity, Contingency, and the Mutual Embeddedness of Identity and Politics in Post-Soviet Azerbaijan: Some Initial Thoughts

Abstract

Azerbaijan presents itself as a country fitting in with Western values while simultaneously adhering to Islam and associated traditional values, while also sharing some identity features with Russia and Turkey. This article provides a brief, yet critical, analysis of the dynamics of Azerbaijan's foreign policy and the country's national identity to make the case for the mutually derivative - and hence contingent - nature of the two.