This is a tale of two seemingly different countries that is actually one -- Azerbaijan. One recently released report, prepared by a leading international financial institution, pronounces Azerbaijan to be one of the world's most business-friendly nations. Another report, prepared by a leading corruption watchdog group, asserts that graft is deeply entrenched in Azerbaijan and growing worse.
If you cannot beat them, try to co-opt them: that apparently is Gazprom's operational philosophy. The Russian state-controlled energy giant on June 2 sounded out officials in Azerbaijan about large-scale purchases of Azerbaijani natural gas. But Baku seems unenthused about doing a deal.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has recently stepped up his ongoing campaign to promote Azerbaijan as the key to Europe's energy security at a recent energy summit in Kyiv. But this is a role in which Baku needs a supporting actor. Azerbaijani experts believe that the Aliyev administration now has agreements with Turkmenistan to play that part.
In looking ahead to a presidential election in Azerbaijan later this year, officials are emphasizing a sense of calm and continuity, and opposition leaders are divided among themselves. As a result, campaign season has been almost eerily quiet so far.
It's a question that other countries in the South Caucasus would love to ask: How best to use a 42-percent increase in state revenues? Surging oil prices have kicked off a debate in cash-rich Azerbaijan about spending practices and inflation that analysts say highlights dangerous pitfalls in the country's budget planning.
Following a delay that lasted over a month, Azerbaijan permitted Russian equipment meant for Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant to pass though its border. The diplomatic incident was defused after Moscow provided additional documentation concerning the cargo.
Azerbaijan stands ready to back a Russian ban on Caspian Sea sturgeon fishing, but local experts say that, in many ways, Azerbaijan is more of a model for sustainable sturgeon fishing than Russia itself.
Azerbaijan's refusal to release Russian nuclear power plant equipment headed to Iran has put the country at the center of a diplomatic firestorm. Analysts are divided over the source of the trouble.
Military cooperation between the United States and Azerbaijan appears to be developing at a strong pace. A recent US delegation, though, expressed concerns about the country's sluggish realization of agreements with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as well as on Baku's relatively high level of military spending.
Tensions have subsided between Azerbaijan and the mediation group charged with overseeing talks with Armenia over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Even so, any progress that had been made toward a lasting peace settlement appears to have been lost.
