How Azerbaijan defies Russia and Iran in Eurasia's new order
Iran and
Russia
Azerbaijan has been actively reconfiguring relationships with its neighbours in a bid to stake a claim as a major player in Eurasia – even at the cost of ratcheting up diplomatic friction with its former colonial rulers.
Advertisement
Emboldened by
the decisive seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh from
Armenia in 2023, Baku has drawn on a web of diverse strategic partnerships to assert its autonomy.
No longer content to be a subordinate neighbour, Azerbaijan is pushing back against Moscow and Tehran, drawing strength from a disparate coalition that includes
Israel
Turkey , nuclear-armed
Pakistan and strategic partner
China , as well as a host of former Soviet republics with majority ethnic Turkic populations.
The shifting allegiances have prompted comparisons with the 19th-century 'Great Game' between the British and Russian empires, but analysts see today's contest as even more intricate.
The current geopolitical contest in the southern Caucasus 'involves a more complex and multipolar configuration, with multiple stakeholders', said Rusif Huseynov, director of the Baku-based Topchubashov Centre think tank. Alongside Russia and China, the United States, European Union, India and Pakistan all now jostle for influence.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Israeli ultra-Orthodox party leaves Netanyahu's government over conscription bill
One of Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties, United Torah Judaism, said it was quitting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ruling coalition due to a long-running dispute over failure to draft a bill to exempt yeshiva students from military service. Advertisement Six of the remaining seven members of UTJ, which is comprised of the Degel Hatorah and Agudat Yisrael factions, wrote letters of resignation. Yitzhak Goldknopf, chairman of UTJ, had resigned a month ago. That would leave Netanyahu with a razor thin majority of 61 seats in the 120 seat Knesset, or parliament. It was not clear whether Shas, another ultra-Orthodox party, would follow suit. Degel Hatorah said in a statement that after conferring with its head rabbis, 'and following repeated violations by the government to its commitments to ensure the status of holy yeshiva students who diligently engage in their studies ... (its MKs) have announced their resignation from the coalition and the government'. Advertisement Ultra-Orthodox parties have argued that a bill to exempt yeshiva students was a key promise in their agreement to join the coalition in late 2022.
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Paraguay president vows to defend Taiwan ties ‘with all its strength'
Paraguayan president Santiago Peña said Monday that his country would 'stand firmly by Taiwan', describing the 68-year diplomatic relationship as a strategic and values-based alliance that the country is prepared to defend 'with all its strength and with a loud voice'. Advertisement Speaking at a Taiwan–Paraguay business forum in Asunción, Peña said his country's partnership with the self-ruled island reflects Paraguay's sovereign foreign policy and its commitment to democratic principles, not just economic interests. The remarks came months after Paraguay expelled a senior mainland Chinese diplomat in December for allegedly interfering in domestic politics over the Taiwan issue. Paraguayan authorities said at the time that Xu Wei, a Beijing‑based envoy visiting Asunción for a UN event, skipped official meetings to privately urge opposition lawmakers to switch recognition from Taipei to Beijing. They declared Xu persona non grata, accusing him of attempting to undermine the country's long-standing diplomatic stance. Xu defended his move by claiming that it would bring 'thousands of advantages', including expanded trade and investment. Advertisement
South China Morning Post
7 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Israel ‘willing to withdraw more troops' from Gaza than previously offered
Israel has presented a new proposal in indirect talks over a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, according to a media report. The Jewish state is now willing to withdraw more troops from Gaza during the ceasefire than previously offered, The Times of Israel newspaper reported on Monday, citing an Arab diplomat. Indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Qatari capital Doha have recently stalled. A major sticking point is the differing views on the extent of the Israeli troop withdrawal, particularly from southern Gaza. Israel had previously been adamant that its forces remain in a relatively large area, including a 3km-wide buffer zone along the border with Egypt near Rafah, as well as the so-called Morag Corridor, which separates Rafah from Khan Younis, the next second city in the coastal strip. Hamas, though, has demanded the withdrawal of Israeli forces to the positions they held before the collapse of the last ceasefire in March.
