The American and European directions of Azerbaijan's foreign policy and their impact on the Caspian region in 2003-2019.

At the end of the XX century there were significant shifts that dramatically affected the geopolitical picture of the world. The liquidation of the Warsaw Pact Organization and the subsequent end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the USSR became symbols of the collapse of the "bipolar world". The former republics of the Soviet Union, including the Republic of Azerbaijan, having gained independence during the "Parade of Sovereignties", soon became new actors in international relations.

The appearance of fifteen independent states in the post-Soviet space in the early 1990s of the last century, and, a little later, several republics with different international legal status, influenced the foreign policy course of all countries of the former USSR.

The Republic of Azerbaijan became independent on October 18, 1991, and was admitted to the United Nations (UN) on March 2, 1992 ^{[1, 250]}. Since gaining sovereignty, Azerbaijan has been an important geopolitical "crossroads", in its own way, which has no analogues in the post-Soviet space.

Azerbaijan is historically located at the intersection of many trade routes, which gave it a unique chance to develop in various planes. Surrounded by a huge number of peoples, some of whom are related to Azerbaijanis, and others are related to other ethnic groups inhabiting the country, independent Azerbaijan from the very beginning began to promote the values of multiculturalism, which gave it the opportunity to carry out foreign policy in a variety of directions. Since ancient times, the state has been a link in various dialogues, such as: Russia – Iran, Asia Minor – Central Asia, this once again confirms its status as a "Eurasian crossroads". In addition, Azerbaijan is of interest to the world community as a major supplier and intermediary in the hydrocarbon market, this fact underlines the rich economic potential of the country.

All these factors determine the foreign policy course of the Republic, which can be described as multi-vector. The circumstances listed above were a favorable ground for conducting an effective and purposeful foreign policy that met the national interests of Azerbaijan. However, the implementation of the "Land of Lights" foreign policy course is far from the easiest task due to the difficulties that have arisen, both in the dialogue with Armenia and in world politics in general.

After the signing of the oil "Contract of the Century" in 1994, Azerbaijan became a "key country in the South Caucasus", and is bound by obligations with many leading states of the world community and transnational corporations (TNCs) ^{[2, 211]}. These are TNCs traditionally associated with the United Kingdom (BP), the United States (Amoco, Pennzoil, Exxon Mobil), Norway (StatOil – Equinor), Japan (Itochu), Saudi Arabia (Delta Nimir Khazar), and, of course, with Azerbaijan's key partners – Turkey (Turkish Petroleum Com.) and Russia (LUKOIL)^[17].

Along with the involvement of the oil consortium, investments aimed at developing the region's infrastructure also came to the South Caucasus: the construction of the Baku–Supsa (BS) and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipelines was launched, as well as a number of other equally significant projects, which we will consider below. Oil diplomacy is not unreasonably considered "the main trump card of the actual founder of modern Azerbaijan – Heydar Aliyev" ^{[2, 212]}.

The mentioned contract attracted investments not only in Azerbaijan, but also in the Caspian region as a whole, especially in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, which could not but affect the countries of Central Asia ^{[3, 214-215]}. Heydar Aliyev's policy allowed the country to "build special relations not only with the United States and the European Union, but even with Japan and China," while maintaining friendly relations with Russia ^{[2, 211-212]}. For the first time in a long time, the Caspian Sea has reopened to investments of world capital.

The signing of the oil contract raised the question of choosing a further development model for the South Caucasian Republic. The peculiarity of the country is the interweaving of Eastern (Turkic and Iranian), European (Russian and Soviet) cultures, as well as a special, "borderline" Caucasian culture. Among the proposed directions of Azerbaijan's development, the American and European models were possible, which would allow the country to accelerate integration with Western countries. Another option was a mixed "orientalist" model, which accelerated integration in the Eastern and Middle Eastern directions. At the same time, relations with Russia and most of the countries of the former USSR, a priori, were considered as partnership ^{[1, 257]}.

The Republic of Azerbaijan, which has a favorable geostrategic position, located at the junction of Europe and Asia, has managed to preserve its own characteristic features in all areas of life, representing, as already mentioned, a synthesis of the values of the West and the East. It was this approach that allowed the country to balance quite successfully in the system of international relations and defend national interests. Throughout the entire post-Soviet history, the country has been in a "state of continuous diplomatic maneuver" ^{[4, 239]}.

The conceptual foundations, principles and goals of the foreign policy of the Republic of Azerbaijan are reflected in the Constitution of the country adopted on November 12, 1995, as well as in the speeches of the Presidents – Heydar and Ilham Aliyev^[20]. Article 10 of the Constitution of the Republic of Azerbaijan states: "The Republic of Azerbaijan builds its relations with other States on the basis of the principles provided for in generally recognized international legal norms"^[18].

Azerbaijani researcher Ali Hasanov cites as an example the speech of Heydar Aliyev, which was delivered on October 10, 1993 at the official inauguration ceremony on the occasion of the election of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. "... One of the main tasks facing our republic is to conduct a smart, balanced foreign policy capable of protecting the interests of Azerbaijan on a global scale. There are important tasks ahead. Our foreign policy, first of all, should be aimed at ensuring our state independence. The task is to create and develop equal, mutually beneficial relations with all countries of the world, to use these relations rationally, both to strengthen Azerbaijan's international positions and to develop the economy, science, and culture of the republic" ^[1,260]. Hasanov considers Heydar Aliyev to be the founder of the foreign policy course of independent Azerbaijan. Heydar Aliyev made a risky maneuver by going for energy and military-political cooperation with the West and developing joint projects with Turkey in the South Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. Under him, relations with Iran, Central Asian countries and the West were normalized, and relations with the Russian Federation returned to a friendly channel ^[1,260].

In a 2017 article, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Elmar Maharram oglu Mammadyarov, described the main tasks formed by President Ilham Aliyev in contact with the country's foreign ministry. The tasks include: "protecting the country from external risks", "non-interference in the internal affairs of states", "expanding cooperation with international organizations", "improving the competitiveness of the national economy", "promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue" and the main task - "settlement of the Armenian-Azerbaijani military conflict" ^{[5, 19-20]}.

In general, the foreign policy vector set at the end of the last century has been preserved during the presidency of Ilham Aliyev, who seeks to continue the work of his father, Heydar Aliyev. In the XXI century, the priority directions in the foreign policy of the "Land of Lights" are relations with the countries of the West, the Muslim world, mainly with Turkey and Iran, as well as with Asian partners, and, of course, with the countries of the post-Soviet space, especially with Russia, which is a key partner of Azerbaijan (together with Turkey). The presence of common historical roots, religion, traditions, as well as coexistence within the borders of the Caspian region, inevitably leads to increased contacts with the countries of Central Asia.

Features of the relations of the Republic of Azerbaijan with the countries of the "West".

Azerbaijan has always paid great attention to relations with European and American countries. After gaining independence, it became obvious that the key to successful economic development and national security is not only the post-Soviet and Turkish-Iranian vectors of foreign policy, but also the conditional Western one. The interest from the developed countries of the West indicates that the energy resources of the Caspian Sea in the future can play one of the key roles in the global hydrocarbon market ^{[6, 115]}.

With the conclusion of the oil Contract of the Century, significant investments from European countries and the United States followed in Azerbaijan, but interest in the country increased not only in the context of the development of the hydrocarbon business in the Caspian region, but also in military and humanitarian aspects.

The United States of America seeks to influence almost all regions of the world. A similar situation developed in the Caspian region (in Central Asia and the South Caucasus) after the USSR disappeared from the political map of the world.

Bilateral contacts between Azerbaijan and the United States existed back in the XIX century, when the legendary American company Standard Oil began to participate in the oil business in the territory of the Russian Empire, and, in particular, modern Azerbaijan. However, John Rockefeller's company was soon ousted from the Russian market by the structures of other world–famous oilmen - the Nobel brothers ^{[1, 333]}.

In the XX century, there were also contacts at the highest level. It should be noted the meeting of the delegation of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR) A.M. Topchubashev, who headed the delegation in Paris, and American President V. Wilson, after which the United States recognized the independence of the ADR. In addition, a number of meetings were held in the South Caucasus between American and Azerbaijani high-ranking officials ^{[1, 334]}.

Direct contacts between representatives of the two countries resumed after the disintegration of the USSR. The USA was one of the first to recognize the independence of Azerbaijan ^[1,334]. Already in February 1992, the United States Secretary of State James Baker visited the Republic, and almost a month later, on March 17, 1992, the US Embassy in Baku was opened ^{[1, 334]}.

In general, in the early 1990s, the United States repeatedly made attempts to establish a constructive dialogue with the Caucasian Republic, but all plans were not implemented, apparently under pressure from the pan-Turkist policy of the second president of Azerbaijan, Abulfaz Elchibey ^{[7, 64]}.

The consequence of the short-sightedness of this policy was the anti-Azerbaijani "907 amendment", adopted by the US Congress and suggesting a ban on any assistance to Azerbaijan due to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh ^{[1, 338]}.

The third President of the Republic, Heydar Aliyev, returned to dialogue with the United States, however, did not "plunge headlong" into bilateral relations like some other world leaders, realizing all the ambiguity that the friendship of a small but hydrocarbon-rich country with large capitalist powers can conceal ^{[1, 338]}.

Bilateral relations began to improve during the dialogues between Presidents Heydar Aliyev and Bill Clinton. The obvious result of establishing relations was the previously mentioned "Contract of the Century" of 1994, in which about 47% of investments were owned by American TNCs ^{[1, 360]}. After the signing of the agreement, the number of visits by American delegations increased. President Clinton even managed to find a way to support Azerbaijan bypassing the "907 Amendment" ^{[1, 360-362]}.

Heydar Aliyev has visited the United States eight times, two of them within the framework of the UN General Assembly. Despite the improvement of relations between the two countries, several times his visits were preceded by massive PR companies aimed at undermining the image of Azerbaijan. Researcher Ali Hasanov connects these cases with the presence in the United States of a historically large and influential Armenian lobby, whose views, according to the Azerbaijani researcher, were broadcast in these PR companies ^{[1, 366-367]}.

It should be noted that criticism in the American media was also directed at Ilham Aliyev. In the period from 2014 to 2018, the New York Times and the Washington Post published articles with provocative headlines: "Azerbaijan neglects the West" ^[19], "The reach of this tyrant knows no borders"^[20]. In addition, the country's leadership was accused of "caviar diplomacy"^[21] and the distraction of the masses by various entertainment events during the pre-election period and for budget money^[22].

Obviously, such a discourse in the key American media could not reflect the real picture of what was happening, but it was also aimed at solving someone's political problems, since after the accusations were made, this story did not receive any significant continuation. At the same time, in 2015, Time magazine called Azerbaijan "an oasis of tolerance in the Middle East"^[23].

As for Ilham Aliyev, in the period from 2003 to 2019 there were fewer contacts at the highest level – 6 visits of the Azerbaijani leader to the United States as president and one as prime minister^[24] (in 2003). It is noteworthy that none of the American presidents visited Azerbaijan until 2019. The highest-ranking official from the United States who has ever visited Azerbaijan is Vice President Dick Cheney, who arrived in 2008 on an official visit^[25]. At the same time, there were quite a lot of visits by American ministers, senators and representatives of big business ^{[1, 385-389]}.

In total, by 2020, 86 intergovernmental agreements were signed between the countries, the main of which are: the agreement in the field of trade (from 1993), investment (from 1997), as well as the "Memorandum of Understanding and the establishment of the Azerbaijan–USA Economic Partnership Commission between the Government of the Republic of Azerbaijan and the Government of the United States of America" (from 2007)^[26].

In addition to cooperation in the energy sector, the United States and Azerbaijan also have military contacts. Thus, Azerbaijani units took part in joint operations with the US armed forces in Afghanistan and the Balkans, and most importantly in our study, they participated in providing US assistance in Operation Enduring Freedom together with colleagues from Central Asia^[27].

Washington has managed to competently take advantage of the political vacuum that arose in the Caspian region in the 1990s of the last century, as well as the tension in the relations of some states in the region^[28]. Initially, for the development of military-political cooperation in the South Caucasus and Central Asia, NATO and the United States offered only the Partnership for Peace program. However, since the late 1990s, American interest in the region has sharply increased: the Caspian region was conditionally divided into zones of influence of the American armed forces ^{[8, 60]}.  The South Caucasian part of the region, including Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, became the responsibility of the European Command of the US Armed Forces (USEUCOM), and Central Asia was controlled by the Central Command of the US Armed Forces (USCENTCOM)" ^{[8, 60]}.

The increased interest in the XX century is explained by the struggle of the US authorities against international terrorism, which began after the tragic events in New York on September 11, 2001. Washington has skillfully used this struggle to consolidate its positions in the Caspian Sea. Almost all the states of the region became members of the anti-terrorist coalition, offering their assistance to the Americans in conducting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, "in fact, becoming a springboard for its conduct" ^{[8, 61-62]}.

By presenting a united front, Azerbaijan and the Central Asian republics have dramatically increased the status of the Caspian region, making it a prominent geopolitical player. At the same time, the global shortage of energy resources was growing "in the context of large-scale US intervention in Middle Eastern politics and the rapid economic growth of the Asian region" ^{[9, 212-213]}. In this regard, the USA, the EU and China even more often began to consider the Caspian Sea as a "storehouse of resources", and the Caucasus – "as a potential transport corridor" ^{[9, 213]}.

Military bases and airfields for American troops in the framework of operations were provided by Uzbekistan (bases in Karshi and Khanabad), Kyrgyzstan (Manas airbase), as well as Tajikistan (Dushanbe airport, bases in Khujand, Kulyab and Kurgan-Tube), which, even under pressure from Moscow, still could not refuse the United States ^{[9, 62]}. Kazakhstan has also received several tranches for the construction of military bases in the cities of Aktau, Atyrau and Kuryk. The largest of the former Soviet bases in the region, in Mary (Turkmenistan), was also provided for cargo transportation ^{[10, 120]}.

NATO forces were also provided with facilities (jump airfields) on the territory of Azerbaijan for the transit of "non-lethal cargo" (non-lethal cargo) to Afghanistan^[29]. Training programs were developed for special forces of the "Caspian Guard" - the joint coast guard of Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan under the patronage of USEUCOM. In addition, by 2007, two radar stations were built in the cities of Khizi and Astara ^{[8, 63]}. There was also a joint exchange program between the Azerbaijani military and units from the state of Oklahoma^[30]. In 2018, the Assistant to the US President for National Security, John Bolton, during his visit to Azerbaijan, once again stressed the importance of cooperation between the countries on security issues^[31].

The US interest in Azerbaijan in the context of the trilateral US–Azerbaijan–Iran dialogue is also interesting. Some researchers from Azerbaijan believe that Tehran has always been wary of improving relations between Baku and Washington ^{[11, 35]}. After all, the presence of NATO troops near the northern borders of Iran (populated, moreover, mainly by Azerbaijanis) would leave the country almost completely surrounded by the structures of the North Atlantic Alliance ^{[11, 35]}. At the same time, Baku has repeatedly stated that it will not allow anyone to use its territory for aggression against Iran, and also did not put forward claims to South Azerbaijan ^{[4, 240]}.

In addition, another assumption is put forward that the most "annoying issue for Iran" has always been the production of hydrocarbons in the Caspian region. This issue was particularly acute in Tehran in the context of disputes over water boundaries in the Caspian Sea, even after the signing of the "Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea" in 2018^[32]. The United States openly called the region the sphere of its interests and often tried to outline its plans for oil and gas deposits. Thus, in 2002, at the First Summit of the Heads of the Caspian states in Ashgabat, the United States became the sixth regional player and called the Caspian region "a zone of vital interests of the United States" ^{[6, 120]}.

Other researchers believe that the high activity of the United States in the Caspian region has always consisted only in a huge amount of hydrocarbon resources, the deposits of which are comparable to the total continental reserves of the United States and the North Sea ^{[13, 117]}. At the same time, the influence of the United States and NATO on the region through one of Azerbaijan's key partners, Turkey, was previously emphasized. The absolute majority of trans-Eurasian projects in which Azerbaijan participates are tied to this country ^{[13, 118]}. Turkey is also traditionally considered a leader among all "Turkic" countries, and largely due to the linking of projects to Turkey, Azerbaijan managed to establish a dialogue with the countries of Central Asia.

The opinion is also put forward that the United States pursues two main geostrategic goals in Eurasia, which can be realized through the Azerbaijani direction. According to researchers, one of the tasks of the United States since the dissolution of the USSR has been to gain maximum control over the main logistics chains in the Caspian region: the Baku–Supsa oil pipelines (BS, Georgia, launched in 1999), Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC, launched in 2002), the TRACECA international transport corridor ("Europe-Caucasus-Asia", the implementation was started in 1998), the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway (BTK, launched in 2017), as well as the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline (BTE, "South Caucasus Gas Pipeline", launched in 2006), which is one of the connecting links an expanded network of trans-Eurasian gas pipelines, through which gas from the Caspian region is delivered to Europe. The BTE gas pipeline connects in Erzurum (Turkey) with the Trans-Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP), and TANAP, in turn, connects with the Trans-Adriatic Gas Pipeline (TAP), which is laid through Greece and Albania to Italy. There were other projects, for example, related to the delivery of Caspian gas to Europe – Nabucco (the project is closed) ^{[11, 37]}. Gas to Nabucco was supposed to flow through the Trans-Caspian gas pipeline from Turkmenbashi to Baku along the bottom of the Caspian Sea (under development), then through BTE and TANAP to the territory of Bulgaria.

As for economic indicators, the trade turnover between the United States and Azerbaijan has not demonstrated stable results: in 2013 it amounted to 1.36 billion dollars (US dollar), in 2016 – 576.2 million dollars, and in 2018 – 858.6 million dollars. The main article of Azerbaijani exports is oil (slightly more than 93%), Americans mainly supplied machinery to Azerbaijan (about 19%), as well as aircraft and engines (47%) ^[33].

Another area of cooperation in Azerbaijani-American relations is inter-parliamentary cooperation. Thus, a working group of 10 people was formed in the Milli Majlis (Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan), responsible for inter-parliamentary dialogue with the United States^[30]. A similar committee was established in the US Congress in 2004^[34].

The above assumptions, according to the Azerbaijani colleague, clearly fit into the concept of the "Eurasian Balkans" by Zbigniew Brzezinski, which he outlined in his treatise "The Great Chessboard". The author considers "political pluralism" and the prevention of Russia's dominance in the Caspian region to be the main points of implementation of this idea ^{[11, 38]}.

It is obvious that the expansion of US influence in Eurasia caused concerns in Russia, which in the XXI century decided to respond by strengthening its positions both by participating in integration projects and by strengthening direct dialogue with the countries of the former USSR, including the Republic of Azerbaijan. Some researchers note that the consequence of the short-sightedness of Russian policy at the end of the XX century was that Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin had to build relations in the region almost anew, only with the presence of the United States in it ^{[13, 131]}.

In general, by 2010, the geopolitical situation in the Caspian region and Central Asia began to turn in favor of Moscow again. This was facilitated not only by Russia's unilateral actions, but also by a number of other circumstances: the strength of Russian-Azerbaijani relations, as well as the course chosen by the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Bakiyev, the traditional, sometimes "bordering on isolationism" ^{[10, 120]} political neutrality of Turkmenistan, the establishment of Russian-Tajik relations, Russian-Kazakh integration. The strengthening of the Chinese presence in the region since the mid-2000s is also important. The position of American President Barack Obama regarding military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan also had a significant impact. But perhaps the most important circumstance is the awareness by Western countries of the fact that not every region of the world is able to quickly and completely adopt the values of Western societies to the detriment of their own ^{[10, 121]}.

Azerbaijan, along with other republics of the South Caucasus, is a "strategic corridor" for the supply of hydrocarbons from Central Asia and the Caspian Sea basin to European countries. Of course, the mentioned cooperation of Azerbaijan and the Central Asian states with NATO in the fight against terrorism is also important. In addition, the countries of the South Caucasus region participate in several integration projects aimed at increasing trade turnover between Asian countries and the European Union (EU) ^{[14, 248]}.

As already noted, the regional interests of Russia, the United States, the EU and NATO as a whole forced Azerbaijani diplomacy to pursue a highly professional policy in relations with partners ^{[14, 248]}.

The EU, together with its North American partners, has always been interested in participating in politics, both in the entire post-Soviet space and in the Caspian region, in particular, seeing it as a source of satisfying its energy demand.

The statehood of Azerbaijan has been recognized by European countries since 1991. The UK was the first, followed by France, Germany, Italy, and then other European countries ^{[1, 406]}. In addition, Azerbaijani diplomacy almost immediately established bilateral relations with all the countries that recognized the statehood of the republic, some of which (Western European countries) were members of the EU at that time. By the mid-2000s, Azerbaijani embassies began to function in all EU countries, with the exception of the Republic of Cyprus (due to Azerbaijan's clear allied position towards Turkey). By about 2010, relations were established and established with most of the countries of Eastern Europe, as well as non-EU states (Switzerland, Norway, the Vatican, San Marino) ^[35].

As already mentioned, Azerbaijan has participated in NATO's joint programs since 1994. However, since 2011, Baku has joined the Non-Aligned Movement, participation in which does not imply being in any military blocs. This fact, according to S.I. Chernyavsky, although it deprives Azerbaijan of the opportunity to integrate into NATO, it does not prohibit the country from continuing to take part in alliance exercises and operations against international terrorism. At the same time, it should be clarified that Azerbaijan, within the framework of the chosen course, cooperates with partners belonging to other military-political blocs: the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

Dialogue in the format of the OSCE Minsk Group occupies an important place in relations between Azerbaijan and European countries^[36]. Azerbaijan was admitted to the organization in January 1992, and in the summer of the same year the Minsk Group was convened, whose tasks include finding ways to peacefully resolve the Karabakh conflict ^{[14, 197]}.

 It should be noted that Brussels has always pursued an active policy in the post-Soviet space: in 2004, the "European Neighborhood Policy" was proclaimed, "which in 2008 was transformed into the EU Eastern Partnership^[37], focused on preparing its participants for EU membership" ^{[15, 198-199]}. Azerbaijan was also among the participating countries.

A kind of preparatory platform aimed at integration with the EU can be considered the regional organization GUAM (Georgia– Ukraine– Azerbaijan – Republic of Moldova), established in 1999 during the summit of the Council of Europe^[38]. After leaving the organization of Uzbekistan (ex. GUUAM), in addition to the Republic of Azerbaijan, there are countries in its composition that are firmly focused on integration with the European Union. "The most important goals of the organization were the minimization of economic dependence on the Russian Federation and the development of alternative energy transit routes" ^{[15, 198]}.

In general, no particular success has been achieved within the framework of GUAM: all ongoing projects related to the Caspian region and the South Caucasus were supported, to a large extent, by the United States, the European Union and Turkey outside the organization. A similar situation was observed in the framework of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC)^[39], where the difficulty was that the participating countries belonged to "competing military-political and economic structures (EU - EurAsEC^[43], NATO – CSTO)"^[40].

In addition to bilateral relations with European countries and the EU as a whole, as well as close cooperation with the NATO bloc and the OSCE, Azerbaijan has representations in various international organizations located in Europe, namely: the Council of Europe (Strasbourg), UNESCO (Paris), the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW, The Hague). There are also representations of Azerbaijan in the Geneva Office of the UN and other international organizations located in Geneva, a representation in NATO (Brussels), a representation at international organizations in Vienna, as well as a representation in the Food and Agriculture Organization (UN) in Rome ^[41]. 

The European Union gradually became the main trading partner for Azerbaijan: it accounted for more than 35% of Azerbaijan's total foreign trade in 2017, an important place among the importing countries was occupied by Italy, which consumed the bulk of the gas exported by Azerbaijan^[42]. According to the EU report, by 2018 the Union was the largest investor in Azerbaijan, "both in the oil and other sectors of the economy"^[43]. Since 2009, 11,000 Azerbaijani companies have been granted 207 million euros of loans under EU guarantees. Azerbaijan has been included in various educational programs (Erasmus Mundus, Tempus, Erasmus+)^[44].

The key role in the region is played by projects in which the EU participates: TRACECA, TACIS (CIS Technical Assistance), TASIM (Trans-Eurasian Information Superhighway)^[45], INOGATE (energy cooperation), as well as the previously mentioned oil and gas pipelines ^{[16, 45]}. In this report, the country was indicated as an "important energy partner", attention was focused on Azerbaijani multiculturalism, and also mentioned the assistance of the European Union in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict within the framework of the previously mentioned OSCE Minsk Group and the European Partnerships for the Peaceful Settlement of the Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh (EPNC)^[46]. 

In general, relations between Azerbaijan and European countries in the period from 2003 to 2019 can be described as developing, however, in some European countries, as well as in the United States, a unilateral attack on the Azerbaijani leadership in the media was launched. About the same period as in the USA, the authoritative British newspaper "Guardian" accused the leadership of Azerbaijan of almost everything that could be blamed on the leadership of any country in order to undermine its international image. The leaders of Azerbaijan were accused of paying bribes to European officials^[47], in the already mentioned "caviar diplomacy"^[48].

However, all these attacks did not prevent large British companies from concluding agreements on gas production in the Shah Deniz field[, and accusations of Azerbaijan's bribery of judges at the London 2012 Olympic Games[49] did not serve as a reason to boycott the 2015 European Games in Baku, in which more than 150 British athletes took part. It should be noted that another authoritative European publication, the Spanish newspaper El Pais, saw in Azerbaijan "an opportunity to help in overcoming the crisis" and called it "the energy gateway of Central Asia"^[49].

Thus, Azerbaijan's relations with the countries of Europe and America developed, although not always smoothly, but quite successfully both during the reign of Heydar Aliyev and during the reign of Ilham Aliyev. The establishment and establishment of bilateral relations with most Western countries, as well as participation in anti–terrorist operations together with the NATO bloc and the countries of Central Asia, the acceleration of energy and logistics projects along the Central Asia-Europe route have had a positive impact on the military-technical and economic levels of the country's development.            

At the beginning of the XX century, Azerbaijani diplomacy, apparently, managed to strengthen its position, which was probably a preparation for the resumption of the resolution of disputes over the territorial affiliation of Nagorno-Karabakh, among others. If Baku has always had intensive contacts with Russia and other countries of the former USSR, then it had to pay great attention to the Western direction of foreign policy, often making concessions and acting to the detriment of relations with the Russian Federation.

Nevertheless, the subsequent events in Nagorno-Karabakh have shown that Azerbaijan's foreign policy activity has become successful: the US and the EU, which are losing ground in the South Caucasus, did not put forward any serious ultimatums to Azerbaijan, despite the very strong Armenian lobby in California and France.