Washington Post
Keeping a key Caspian ally
Commentary
By S. Rob Sobhani
Today is the 10th anniversary of a landmark agreement
that changed the geopolitical landscape of the Caspian
Sea region forever and gave America access to huge oil
reserves previously under total control of the Soviet
Union.
After a decade, the relationship between the
contractual parties should remain a U.S. foreign
policy priority.
The agreement signed on this date in 1994 in Baku,
the capital of Azerbaijan, was a simple one between
the government of Azerbaijan and Foreign Oil Cos. for
developing three giant oil fields – Azeri, Chirag and
Guneshli. Production from the 6 billion barrels of
reserves in these fields will be shipped through the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline directly to the
Mediterranean Sea. From there the oil will be shipped
to Western markets, including ports on the U.S. East
Coast. The Caspian Sea region is home to 10 percent of
the world’s remaining oil reserves.
From the beginning, Azerbaijan wanted to be a friend
of America – the world’s sole remaining superpower –
and America needed access to non-Middle Eastern oil
reserves. But concluding this agreement was most
difficult given prevailing circumstances at the time.
Azerbaijan was at war with neighboring Armenia over
the territory of Nagorno-Karabagh. Twenty percent of
its landmass was under occupation and approximately 1
million of its 7 million citizens were refugees.
The people of Azerbaijan had only enjoyed
independence from the Soviet Union for three years,
during which the country witnessed serious political
and economic dislocation due to the Soviet collapse. A
further obstacle to signing this agreement was the
total opposition of Russia and Iran. This agreement
was seen as a threat to their national security
because it allowed American oil companies to work in
their backyards.
Only the vision, courage and political skills of
Heydar Aliev, former President of Azerbaijan, enabled
this landmark agreement to be signed. Heydar Aliev was
a former member of the Politburo turned Azeri patriot,
who successfully led his country to de facto sovereign
independence by not allowing either Russia to the
north or Iran to the south to interfere with his
country’s affairs.
Heydar Aliev realized very early that
U.S.-Azerbaijan interests were mutually reinforcing:
uninterrupted exploration, development and
transportation of Caspian Sea oil and natural gas to
international markets; peaceful resolution of the
lingering Nagorno-Karabagh conflict; limiting the
influence of radical Islam in the oil-rich Caspian Sea
region; and fighting the global war on terrorism. Mr.
Aliev saw no conflict between Azerbaijan’s Muslim
heritage and a secular government.He frequently said,
“Islam is our faith and belongs in our hearts and in
our deeds but not on the streets and in our politics.”
He was one of the first world leaders to offer
immediate assistance to the United States after the
tragic events of September 11, 2001. Mr. Aliev offered
immediate right to overfly Azerbaijan to U.S. military
aircraft flying to Afghanistan.
Azerbaijan voted for all the U.N. resolutions in
support of the United States. Working closely with
U.S. law-enforcement agencies, Azerbaijan identified
and arrested 30 very dangerous terrorists who had
entered Azerbaijan. A decade of friendship and
cooperation explains the presence of Azerbaijani
troops beside American forces in both Afghanistan and
Iraq.
This legacy of friendship, cooperation and support
has been passed on to Mr. Aliev’s son, Ilham Aliev
(elected president of Azerbaijan by a significant
majority this past year), who vows to continue his
father’s policies. The U.S., in turn, owes a
tremendous debt of gratitude to Azerbaijan and its
people for opening their hearts, despite tremendous
obstacles, to maintain their end of a bargain with
America that started in 1991 when oil contract
negotiations began.
Unfortunately, Washington has not always upheld
its end of this critical friendship. While both
Presidents Clinton and Bush have understood the
importance of Azerbaijan’s contributions to regional
energy security, Congress has turned its back on
America’s best ally, friend and working partner in the
former Soviet Union. Congress has failed miserably to
appreciate the geopolitical importance of Azerbaijan.
Regardless who wins the elections in November, the
U.S. has an obligation to uphold this legacy of
friendship and cooperation by immediately taking the
following corrective initiatives:
(1) Congress must permanently remove Section 907
of the Freedom Support Act that treats Azerbaijan as
an enemy worse than North Korea and has been in effect
since 1991. (Beginning after September 11, 2001,
President Bush has had to waive Section 907 each year
for Azerbaijan to be treated as America’s friend and
receive any direct U.S. assistance.)
(2) Given Azerbaijan’s strategic location as the
gateway to Caspian Sea oil, Congress must appropriate
funds for increased military cooperation between
Azerbaijan and America.
(3) Make the resolution of the Nagorno-Karabagh
conflict a priority of American diplomacy. Resumption
of this conflict can negatively affect the flow of oil
to the United States.
(4) Invite the new president of Azerbaijan to the
U.S. to thank him for staunchly supporting America’s
war on terrorism.
In conclusion, America has a strong ally just
north of the Middle East that has been taken for
granted for too long. America has been asking its
friends to stand up and be counted. We might consider
doing the same.
S. Rob Sobhani is president of Caspian Energy
Consulting and an adjunct professor at Georgetown
University.