THE PROMISE OF VISIONARY PRAGMATISM
by Elin Suleyamnov

Huffington Post
/the-promise-of-visionary_b_221713.html
June 26 2009

When Israeli President Shimon Peres visits Azerbaijan in late June
this year, it will be exactly one month from the May 28 Azerbaijan
Republic Day celebrations. This bears an almost inescapable symbolism
as Azerbaijan’s national day marked the 91st anniversary of the
establishment of the first parliamentary democracy with the majority
Muslim population in the world in 1918, the Azerbaijan Democratic
Republic. Incidentally, the short-lived Azerbaijan Democratic Republic
managed, before being invaded by the Russian Bolsheviks, to grant
equal rights to all citizens regardless of their ethnicity, religion
and gender, rushing ahead of the United States on women suffrage.

Located at the global cultural crossroads of the Caucasus,
Azerbaijan stands in a clear defiance of the "Clash of Civilizations"
paradigm. Defying stereotypes is not an objective in itself for
Azerbaijan; rather it is a result of pragmatic, non-ideological
policies. In the area as diverse as the Caucasus (Azerbaijan itself
is home to a mix of cultural, religious and ethnic groups, including
a 2,500-year-old indigenous Sephardic Jewish community), tolerance
and inclusiveness are necessary pre-requisites for development
and success. Therefore, Azerbaijan simply follows its national
interest, though some Azerbaijanis clearly enjoy the notion of broken
stereotypes.

While Azerbaijan’s location at the heart of the ancient Silk Road
is an accident of history and geography, the precedent set by the
Azerbaijan Democratic Republic in 1918 demonstrates that the nation’s
vision of pragmatism is not accidental. This points’ to the tradition
of generally open and moderate predominantly Muslim societies of the
Caucasus and Central Asia. Contrary to another myth, the "Muslim world"
is as diverse as any other "world" and consists of a rich mosaic of
cultures and sovereign nations. For instance, there are overlapping
concerns on which majority of Muslims would agree, yet they are
also numerous other concerns on which Muslims would, naturally,
disagree with each other and agree with some others. For instance,
Azerbaijan often disagrees with neighboring Iran, clearly so in the
case of the Mr. Peres’ visit, yet agrees on an overwhelming majority of
issues with its Orthodox Christian neighbor Georgia. Another glaring
illustration of the complexity of the region is another neighbor’s,
Christian Armenia’s, close ties to Iran.

President Obama’s brilliant speech in Cairo was welcomed by numerous
Muslims and others. It presented a more approachable and considerate
United States, a departure from another, this time an anti-American,
stereotype often perpetuated outside US. Still, the speech seems to
have been addressed to the Middle East rather than to all Muslims
around the world. This is not to say that resolving the problems of
the Middle East is not a high priority, quite to the contrary, this
is a central global challenge, which warrants an energetic search
for a solution. Moreover, one can be confident that a vast majority
of Muslims and non-Muslims around the world would be relieved to see
tangible progress towards a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Yet, looking at a diverse international community spanning
different continents from the prism of a single issue may be
simply misleading. Perhaps, building partnerships based on pragmatic
assessment of national interests and addressing specific issues based
on their individual merits could be a more productive approach. Helping
to resolve the explosive Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict and return of
the Armenian occupied Azerbaijani territories based on fundamentals
of international law and acting as an objective, honest broker
can reassure America’s friends and reinvigorate its international
standing. Reaching out more actively to the moderate nations of the
Caucasus and Central Asia opens great opportunities and can set an
example of mutually beneficial relations. Such opportunities shouldn’t
be missed as they both serve the national interests of the United
States and its regional partners and enhance global stability.

One example of regional success, in which Azerbaijan played a key
role, has been developing of the Caspian energy infrastructure
and the East-West energy corridor. With the strong support of the
United States, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey in partnership with
international energy companies have built the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil
and the South Caucasus natural gas pipeline. These pipelines don’t
only deliver Caspian oil to a Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, by-passing
the ecologically vulnerable Turkish Straits and the bottleneck of the
Persian Gulf, they also, for the first time, link allow for direct
deliveries of the Caspian natural gas to the European Union. And
the benefits of these projects expand beyond energy as they provide
a backbone for the restoration of the once-vibrant ancient Silk Road
and promote regional cooperation. Exchange of ideas and strengthening
of links along the Caucasus-Central Asia East West corridor is vital
for a meaningful integration of this strategically important region
with the rest of world.

An encouraging recognition of these linkages came recently from
President Obama in the letter to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham
Aliyev. Having sent the veteran Clinton-era expert on the Caspian,
Special Envoy Richard Morningstar to the annual oil and gas show
in Baku at the beginning of June, Mr. Obama asked him to deliver
the message to President Aliyev, which described Azerbaijan as
"an important and reliable supplier of energy to world markets" and
an example of energy development resulting in "rapid progress and
access to the best technology." The US President then highlighted the
most important aspect of regional projects saying that they "increase
regional prosperity and cooperation as well as global energy security,
while also offering an invaluable opportunity to address the needs
and aspirations of all Azerbaijani citizens."

In his turn, speaking at the oil and gas show, President Aliyev
reminded that the development of energy resources is just an instrument
for promoting comprehensive development and investing in human
capital. The recent history of Azerbaijan’s successful cooperation
with the United States and regional partners has demonstrated the
Caspian’s potential. Moreover, as the global importance of natural
gas as a cleaner hydrocarbon is increasing and the challenge of energy
security is assuming greater urgency, so grows the importance of the
Caspian resources in contributing to diversity of energy supplies.

Should Washington elaborate and act on Mr. Obama’s recent message to
President Aliyev, the United States can help to fully realize the
region’s awesome promise. Such a progress would make many mutual
stereotypes and ‘clashes" somewhat obsolete. After all, just as
Azerbaijan’s pragmatism, the upcoming regional itinerary of President
Peres, an experienced seasoned politician, is hardly accidental.

Elin Suleymanov is Consul General of Azerbaijan in Los Angeles. For
more information please visit