Azerbaijan–United States relations

The United States and Azerbaijan have had diplomatic relations since 1919, when a delegation from the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic attended the Paris Peace Conference and was granted an audience with President Woodrow Wilson ["Bulletin d'Information de l'Azerbaidjan", No. I, September 1, 1919, pp. 6-7] . At this meeting Wilson advised the Azerbaijanis that it would be better for them to develop a spirit of confederation with neighboring countries of Georgia and Armenia, and that such a confederation of all peoples of Transcaucasia could receive the protection of some power on the basis of a mandate granted by the League of Nations ["Report of the Delegation", No. 7, June, 1919, Fund of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Dossier No. 3, p. 7, as cited in Raevskii, "Английская интервенция и Мусаватское правительство", p. 53] . However, in 1922, after the Bolshevik takeover, the Azerbaijan became part of Soviet Union as the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR), and no direct formal relations existed between Azerbaijan and the United States.

On October 18, 1991, the Supreme Council of Azerbaijan adopted a declaration of independence. Subsequently, on December 25, 1991 President George H.W. Bush announced that the United States recognized the independence of all 12 former Soviet republics, including Azerbaijan. [James P. Nichol. "Diplomacy in the Former Soviet Republics", Praeger/Greenwood, 1995, ISBN 0275951928, p. 150]

ecurity relations

The security relations of the United States and Azerbaijan developed along several paths:
* involvement of Azerbaijan in NATO's Partnership for Peace program,
* bilateral military ties in the context of Caspian energy and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline security, and
* participation of Azerbaijan in the U.S.-led military missions in Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Economic relations

U.S.-Azerbaijani ties in economic sphere developed primarily in the context of Caspian energy resources and their transportation to Western markets. The U.S. companies are actively involved in the development of Caspian hydrocarbons in offshore Azerbaijani oilfields, and the U.S. government actively supported the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline as the primary route of transportation for Caspian oil [Bülent Gökay. "The Politics of Caspian Oil", Palgrave Macmillan, 2001, ISBN 0333739736, p. 195] .

In January 2008, commenting on a trip to Azerbaijan by Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind., head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, John C.K. Daily of UPI called Azerbaijan "the one remaining friend that America has in the Caspian basin"cite news |first=John C.K. |last=Daily |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Analysis: U.S. has ally in Azerbaijan |url=http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Analysis/2008/01/18/analysis_us_has_ally_in_azerbaijan/1889/ |work= |publisher=United Press International |date=2008-01-18 |accessdate=2008-01-21 ] . During this visit Sen. Lugar also suggested that he along with fellow Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Joseph Biden, D-Del., endorsed the need for "a special representative focused on energy issues in the Caspian to safeguard long-term U.S. interests" in a letter they sent earlier to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Regional conflicts

Diplomatic missions

* [http://azerbaijan.usembassy.gov Embassy of the United States in Baku]
* [http://www.azembassy.com Embassy of Azerbaijan in Washington, D.C.]
* [http://www.azconsulatela.org Consulate General of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles]

References