“Key issues in the first session of the 112th Congress regarding the South Caucasus may include the ongoing Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Azerbaijan’s energy development; Armenia’s economic development and Georgia’s recovery from Russia’s August 2008 military incursion”, – according to APA, said Jim Nichol, American Specialist on Eurasian Affairs in the US Congressional Research Service’s last report on “Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests”.
The report was prepared for Members and Committees of the Congress.
The author reminds that, at the December 1-2, 2010, summit meeting of the OSCE the United States and Russia clashed over the principle of Georgia’s territorial integrity, as well as the co-chairs of the Minsk Group and the presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan issued a statement that called for more decisive efforts to resolve the NK conflict.
“U.S. policy toward the South Caucasus states has included promoting the resolution of conflicts between Armenia and Azerbaijan and between Georgia and its breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Since 1993, U.S. emissaries have been detailed to try to settle these conflicts. Some members of Congress and other policymakers believe that the United States should provide greater support for the region’s increasing role as an eastwest trade and security corridor linking the Black Sea and Caspian Sea regions.
They urge greater U.S. aid and conflict resolution efforts to contain warfare, crime, smuggling, and terrorism, and to bolster the independence of the states. Others urge caution in adopting policies that will increase U.S. involvement in a region beset by ethnic and civil conflicts”, – the report says.
According to the analyst, other observers in Washington DC argue that developments in the South Caucasus are largely marginal to U.S. strategic interests:
“They urge great caution in adopting policies that will heavily involve the United States in a region beset by ethnic and civil conflicts, and some argue that, since the European Union has recognized the region as part of its “neighborhood,” it rightfully should play a major role”.
The author also reminds that, Azerbaijan and Georgia were among the countries that openly pledged to support the U.S.-led Operation Iraqi Freedom, with both offering the use of their airbases, and to assist the United States in rebuilding Iraq. Both countries agreed to participate, subject to U.S. financial support, in the multinational stabilization force for Iraq. Also, Azerbaijan and Kyrgyzstan reportedly are the main overflight, refueling, and landing routes for U.S. and coalition troops bound for Afghanistan, and Azerbaijan also is a major land transport route for military fuel, food, and construction supplies.
In the end, the analyst however mentioned that, ethnic conflicts have kept the South Caucasus states from fully partaking in peace, stability, and economic development since the Soviet collapse in 1991. “U.S. and international efforts to foster peace and the continued independence of the South Caucasus states face daunting challenges”, he says.
