Wilson Center Advisor says incredible development in Azerbaijan economy
While attending a high-level conference in Baku, Wilson Center
Advisor to Global Europe Program at the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars, Alexandros Petersen praised
transformation of Azerbaijan`s economy in an interview with the
State Telegraph Agency (AzerTAc).
Petersen, the author of "The World Island: Eurasian Geopolitics and
the Fate of the West", said, "I first visited Baku in the 1990s.
The city has changed a lot since then. I've been many times to Baku
since then and it`s amazing to see the transformation of
Azerbaijan's economy going not just from being a petrol state, but
now being an increasingly diverse economy."
"It's amazing to see the incredible development and infrastructure
development that has been going on here, he continued. "So I have
great optimism for the future in terms of Azerbaijan's development
not just in terms of buildings, infrastructure and the sort of
things, but increasingly becoming a centre for intangible things
like human capital, the center for technological development and
innovation, and the bridge between East and West."
He continued, "We say like many this cliché that Azerbaijan is the
bridge between East and West. But I think it is increasingly
becoming the case in ways that it is not just about the
infrastructure. It's increasingly about the substance and the
people of Azerbaijan, who are, I think, achieving their great
potential."
Petersen stressed the importance of the "Cooperative Approach to
Energy Security: View from NATO and Beyond" conference, which was
co-organized in Baku by the Center for Strategic Studies under the
Azerbaijani President (SAM) and NATO.
"I think it's very important that a high-level Azerbaijani
organization such as SAM is organizing a conference with NATO
Centre of Excellence. The more cooperation we can have,
particularly on energy security, which is a strength of Azerbaijan,
the more cooperation we can have between Azerbaijani institutions
and NATO institutions. I think it is very positive for the Western
outlook of Azerbaijan and for the country emerging as an energy
security leader in the region."
He hailed the country's role in ensuring Europe's energy security:
"Azerbaijan is central to Europe's energy security. With the
Southern Energy Corridor that has been led by SOCAR it's going to
ensure diversification in the European energy market and it's also
going to make sure that from strategic, security and military
standpoints, which is certainly in the interest of NATO, there is
going to be flexibility should, God forbid, there will be a
conflict situation at some point in the future that NATO might be
involved in."
"Azerbaijan's energy reserves are key to align flexibility in a
potential future crisis period," Petersen emphasized. "So
Azerbaijan's relationships with its European consumers are
absolutely a key for overall EU and NATO energy security."
He called the selection of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) by the
Shah Deniz consortium, which was a decision led by SOCAR, "a very
wise decision because it was the most commercially viable pipeline
and plus it was the one that realistically will be built."
"And it is one that, I think, is going to be key in bringing new
markets to Azerbaijani gas so it reaches Italy, but it also very
importantly from Italy could potentially in the future reach
Central Europe, reach Western Europe," he added.
He saluted Azerbaijan`s role in the region, saying: "I think
Azerbaijan has emerged in the broader Black Sea-Caspian region and
Eastern Europe. Azerbaijan has emerged as a diplomatic, a very
dynamic diplomatic player. It has been enormously important as a
partner for Western institutions such as the EU and NATO, but also
strategically for European individual members in the European
countries and for the United States. There is no better ally for
Western institutions and Western countries in the Caucasus-Caspian
region than Azerbaijan."
Mr Petersen touched upon Azerbaijan`s relationship with the
European Union and the United States.
"The US-Azerbaijan relationship in the past years has emerged to
be, I think, a genuinely substantive and deep partnership. I would
even say that the United States now should consider Azerbaijan as a
key ally in the region." He said strategic and geopolitical
relationship is extremely important for both countries, not just
for Azerbaijan. "The United States needs Azerbaijan as well," he
added.
He also commented on the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh
problem:
"I think that it was encouraging that the leaders of Azerbaijan and
Armenia got together recently to start discussions again. I think
it shows initiative on the part of the Azerbaijani leadership
despite a lot of challenges that it faces from the international
community which, I think, generally is more biased towards
Armenia."
Remarking on the US role he said, "I think, we might see from the
US administration a little bit more of an active role in trying to
promote the conflict's settlement. I think that's positive. I think
what we need to do is to move towards comprehensive negotiations
and hopefully with more pressure on Armenia from the United States.
If it`s going to be more active, then those comprehensive
negotiations could be achieved in a fair and equitable
manner."