(MENAFN- AzerNews)
By Orkhan Amashov
Whether Azerbaijan is an established middle power or is on the
verge of becoming one or a nation that has good reason to aspire to
be one is a matter of definition and could be disputed at length.
However, what is indubitably clear beyond doubt is that it, at
least, fits the criteria of the extended definition. It could also
be surmised with a palpable degree of certainty that its leverage
will become even more consequential in the years to come.
The condition of being a middle power, very much like being a
great power, can be ascertained by means of a critical mass which,
if a sufficient concentration of vital elements is present, may
give rise to a particularly heightened standing.
In relation to Azerbaijan, this proposition was first cohesively
articulated by Dr Esmira Jafarova of the Centre of Analysis of
International Relations in May 2020, whose piece titled“Is
Azerbaijan a middle power?” became the seminal text on the
subject.
As 'norm entrepreneurs', middle powers, inter alia, seek to
change international standards through multilateral diplomacy,
through their participation in various high congregations, striving
to persuade greater players to adopt their initiatives. This is
just one dimension of what potentially constitutes the credentials
of the type of power in question.
Azerbaijan, as a nation that regained its independence in 1991,
is a newcomer to the field of international contestation. Its
presumed emergence as a middle power is probably due to the past
10-15 years of steady growth, the critical victory in the Second
Karabakh War being that very finishing apogee that enables us to
view its present credentials in elevated terms
As previously stated, the overall definition is fluid, and it is
by no means our purpose to dwell upon the subject in its holistic
entirety. Furthermore, there is no set-in-stone construct developed
in the theory of international relations that one might have
considered as a model.
Nevertheless, it behoves one to acknowledge that there is a
growing body of opinion pointing to Azerbaijan's elevated
geopolitical clout. For instance, Robert Cutler, Fellow at the
Canadian Global Affairs Institute, in his recent article for the
Asia Times, opined that“Azerbaijan has emerged as a 'middle
power,' with strategic links extending not only to Europe and the
US, but as far as Australia”.
This indubitably judicious assessment is based on a considerable
increase in the country's prowess which, amongst other factors,
entails the capitalisation of its energy export capabilities and
the propitious geopolitical spot it occupies, becoming a force
pursuing a multi-vectored policy and rearranging the world around
itself in such a way that its centrality, as a hub of
communications, becomes indisputably indispensable on a microcosmic
level.
NAM perspective
Azerbaijan's increasingly important role within the Non-Aligned
Movement (NAM) constitutes one of the most critical dimensions. The
membership of the NAM, in addition to enabling it to project
greater power beyond the confines of its presumed reach and to
propound global initiatives, entitles the largest South Caucasus
nation to gain the tangible political support of the member states.
Baku has also taken upon itself a proactive role in the
institutionalisation of the NAM.
The NAM is critical to Azerbaijan's ambition to punch above its
weight. President Ilham Aliyev's address to the Baku meeting of the
NAM last week reflected the heightened importance of institutional
development.
The Parliamentary Network is just one of the Azerbaijani
initiatives, which has received the backing of NAM members. Baku
will host the Youth Summit next month, subsequent to the creation
of the Youth Network. Another successful initiative of Azerbaijan
is the establishment of a NAM support office in New York. The
president has also alluded to the future transformation of the NAM
into an international organisation.
In our day and age, having a massive territory with a large
population still amounts to something considerable, but is no
longer the sole determining factor in defining a nation's global
clout. There is an array of complex circumstances, ranging from
extra leverage gained by virtue of an advantageous geographical
location and natural resources to possessing a strong military,
highly developed economy, and achieving representation in myriad
international organisations.
Azerbaijan's membership within the NAM, the second biggest forum
of sovereign states after the United Nations, allows it to become a
bigger voice internationally, for whilst defending and promoting
the shared vision of the NAM at the UN and other fora, Azerbaijan
finds itself as a player equipped with the resources to influence
the global agenda and ultimately become a source for change
worldwide.
This role is of particular relevance at a time when the UN is in
a state where it risks losing its relevance due to a set of various
factors, most of which centre upon its perceived inability to
safeguard world peace.
Azerbaijan has long espoused the reform of the power structures
that lie at the heart of the UN's institutional core, calling for a
change of the key tenets underpinning its present modus operandi in
line with the principle“the world is bigger than five”. The NAM
can, through its extensive membership, both influence the UN's
decision-making process and set in motion reform-oriented
measures.
Global power projection
Accepted with open arms to the NAM in 2011, Azerbaijan
subsequently became its chair in 2019, this later being extended
till 2023, which was a confidence vote in Baku's credentials as a
leading country. The assumption of this critical responsibility by
Azerbaijan has enabled the NAM to be proactive in tackling global
problems. On 4 May 2020, on the initiative of Azerbaijan as NAM
chair, a High Meeting within the format of a contact group in
response to COVID-19 took place and, as its continuation, a further
proposal to the effect of having a larger debate at UN level was
suggested by President Ilham Aliyev, which eventually received the
support of 150 UN members.
A special session of the UN General Assembly, which took place
in December 2020, was the result of the aforementioned initiative
and firmly put Azerbaijan at the forefront of the fight against the
global pandemic. The special session was also noteworthy for the
fact that when it was proposed, the sovereign state that opposed it
was Armenia, the recalcitrant approach of which amounted to
nothing, rightly reasserting Azerbaijan's moral footing.
As a chair of the NAM, Azerbaijan also raised the troubling
issue of the“vaccine nationalism” expressed through the unfair
distribution of vaccines between developed and developing
countries. These efforts culminated in the adoption of a UN General
Assembly resolution, initiated by Baku on behalf of the NAM, on
equal, affordable, timely, and universal access to vaccines.
Moment of reality-check: Tangible political
support
The NAM provides Baku with tangible political and legal support
globally. In relation to the former Armenian-Azerbaijani
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, the NAM has been an outspoken supporter
of Azerbaijan, adopting numerous documents espousing and
reasserting its territorial integrity.
The consolidated position of the NAM manifested itself in the
clearest possible manner during the Second Karabakh War, when the
three UN Security Council members that are also the beleaguered
OSCE Minsk Group Co-chairs, sought to adopt a statement regarding
the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict without making reference to the
famous four resolutions that the UN Security Council itself passed
in 1993 against the Armenian invasion.
The attempt failed miserably, due to the intervention of seven
NAM members (also the non-permanent members of the UNSC), which
insisted on the inclusion of the resolutions in question, which
have long been the cornerstone of the international legal position
as to the protracted conflict.
This episode was the moment of diplomatic reality-check for
Baku; it behoves any fair-minded observer to accept that Azerbaijan
has risen to the occasion at the time of need.
The NAM is and will continue to be a critical ingredient in
Azerbaijan's larger foreign policy design. Baku's central place
within it is an indisputable testament to the ability of a nation
with a relatively small size to be capable of influencing the
international response far beyond its presumed reach. Furthermore,
due to Azerbaijan's pivotal and perilous location and history,
remaining non-aligned provides it with the necessary scope for
realpolitik.
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- Tags:
- United Nations
- Non-Aligned Movement
- Non-Aligned Movement (NAM)
- Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
- Robert Cutler
- Orkhan Amashov
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