TRANSATLANTIC LANDING PARTY

Ever since gaining independence, Azerbaijan has chosen integration with the West as a priority of its foreign policy. In accordance with this policy, particular attention was paid to relations with the United States. Indeed, Azerbaijan is obliged to Washington's support as regards the key areas of political and economic development of the young republic, especially in the first years of its independent existence. But of late, not everything is so smooth in bilateral relations of the two countries.

Criticism of the situation with human rights in Azerbaijan, which is contained in statements by US officials and numerous publications in newspapers and on the websites of western human rights organizations, has reached such proportions that President Ilham Aliyev has openly stated that Azerbaijan does not have and cannot possibly have any obligations before any country, thereby sending a clear signal about US interference in the internal affairs of Azerbaijan.

The United States has not been pleased with the fact that the young state, which possesses rich natural resources and a favourable geographical position, continues to pursue an independent policy and build friendly relations with certain countries that Washington does not consider friends.

"Both MPs and the public are well aware that Azerbaijan is often confronted with unfounded allegations. It is alleged that democracy and human rights are being violated in Azerbaijan. ...Show us your criteria, show us your commitment to the values proclaimed. We do not see it. It turns out that these values are only for others. Do they only serve to harass and abuse others, to impose your will on them?" Aliyev said.

However, the last month has seen clear changes in relations between the United States and Azerbaijan. Novem-ber can be called a period of revival of Azerbaijan-US relations, given the intensification of high-level contacts between the two countries.

On 7 November, the president of Azerbaijan received a delegation headed by US Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. Speaking at the meeting, the president emphasized that cooperation in the defence sector has a long history and noted that the situation in the region has considerably changed in recent years.

A week later, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and US President Barack Obama held a brief discussion on the sidelines of the summit of the G20 leaders in Antalya, Turkey. Moreover, speaking at one of the sections of the summit, the Azerbai-jani president personally thanked Barack Obama for the US support to all energy projects implemented by Azerbaijan. "Without this support, we could not have achieved the progress made, in particular, in the mid-1990s," said the Azerbaijani leader.

Immediately after this, a US trade and industrial mission - the biggest over the past seven years - came to Baku on 18 November. The mission head, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Commerce Michael Lally, said that the visit of the US delegation had two key objectives: to give impetus to the development of great potential for trade and economic relations between the two countries and assist 15 US companies, whose representatives arrived as part of the US delegation, in establishing cooperation with Azerbaijani colleagues to create joint projects and open new jobs.

"While working in Baku, I saw firsthand the great potential for bilateral trade cooperation. The aim of the current trade mission is to open the door to new large export opportunities and attract new investments to Azerbaijan. And it will contribute to further development of close economic relations between the two countries. The next time we will come to Azerbaijan with representatives not of 15, but 45 companies," Lally promised, inspired by the negotiations.

It should be noted that last year, the trade turnover between the US and Azerbaijan amounted to 2bn dollars. This year, the US Congress has again included Azerbaijan in the list of countries that fall under the US programme General System of Preference (GSP). It is a system of preferences for a number of US partner countries as regards the access of their products to the US market. The list of participating countries is updated annually.

By the way, during the event held in Baku on 20 November, which was dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Azerbaijan and a US trade mission's visit to Baku, Azerbai-jani President Ilham Aliyev was honoured with Leadership Award conferred on him by AmCham for his constant attention and support of the organization.

Finally, last week Azerbaijan was visited by another high-ranking delegation, this time representing the Department of State. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Bridget Brink and the Department of State's Coordinator of US Assistance to Europe and Eurasia Alina Romanowski drew attention of the local press to the fact that their visit came on the heels of visits by US military and trade missions. Speaking at the briefing, the State Department representatives dwelled on the rosy prospects of bilateral relations.

"The broad range of US relations with Azerbaijan includes issues of energy, security, economy, as well as democracy and human rights. A component of this relationship is US financial assistance, which is going to continue and cover three areas: energy, security, democracy and human rights," Brink said.

An adjustment in the content and tone of statements made by James Warlick - the most talkative co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group representing the United States - also allows us to speak about changes in US foreign policy in the South Caucasus. For example, his words about the need for Armenia to free all of the seven occupied districts around Nagornyy Karabakh at the initial stage of settlement, which came "out of the blue", produced quite a stir in Yerevan that got accustomed to Warlick's statements "about nothing".

The intensification of contacts is plain to see. Nothing happens by chance, and it seems that Washington has decided to seriously reconsider its policy towards Azerbaijan. This is due in no small part to growing tensions in the global security system.

We are speaking about the exacerbation of the already fragile situation in the region, which is Azerbaijan's home region and a focus of increasingly greater attention of the United States. Indeed, the prospects for normalization of Azerbaijani-US relations should be viewed in the context of the international situation, which at this stage is characterized by security challenges that are most severe since World War II. Conflicts that are currently raging in the post-Soviet space, the Middle East and Africa threaten the development of these regions, contribute to the decline of national economies and even political systems, as well as lead to social disaster, the destruction of towns and villages and the emergence of a large flow of refugees. Against this backdrop, issues of security, namely the coordination of international efforts in countering threats to stability and sustained economic development, come to the fore. In such circumstances, the problems that marred cooperation between Baku and Washington are fading into the background. In view of the above, the United States cannot afford to spoil relations with a key ally in this important part of the world which the White House includes in the sphere of its strategic interests.