NEWTIMES

The creation of the infrastructure system, which is the vital for country, was one of the strategic goals of national establishment in the years of independence.During evaluating processes related to incident in one of the substations of Azerbaijan Heat Power Plant LLC at the beginning of July, President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev in his speeches emphasized the importance of reforms to regulate the system of national infrastructure and improve its quality, taking into account international experience. From this point of view, there is a big gap in the coverage and research of the problem of the "critical infrastructure", its essence.

The World Bank has released its Doing Business 2019 report, which compares business regulation in more than 150 countries. It also features the ease of doing business ranking. The report concluded that Azerbaijan made serious progress in the ease of doing business, and recognized the country as one of the 10 improvers globally. Against a background of ongoing global geopolitical situation and crisis even in developed countries, it once again emphasizes vital realities relating to Azerbaijan. One of the important aspects of the issue relates to the geopolitical and economic dynamics, which will be highlighted in this article.

Experts point out serious impact of global processes on the regional scale. In this context, geo-political assessment of what is happening in the South Caucasus has gained topicality. The US`s and Russia`s becoming more and more active on the one hand, and re-imposition of anti-Iranian sanctions on the other, raises new questions. Anti-Iranian sanctions will probably have impact on regional countries. Experts already point to first signs of changes in the financial sector. Against this background, the holding of Turkey-Azerbaijan-Iran and Turkey-Azerbaijan-Georgia meetings at historic Dolmabahce Palace is of great importance. Experts consider the Istanbul meetings to be a new chapter in regional cooperation. This article will look at this issue from several perspectives.

The Republic of Azerbaijan celebrated its independence yesterday, October 18, regaining it after the USSR fell. Exactly 27 years ago, after the adoption of the Constitutional Act, Azerbaijan gained its long-awaited independence, having surmounted many challenges. History inevitably proves that preserving independence is much more difficult than gaining it. Azerbaijan twice had the opportunity to become a sovereign state during the 20th century.

When U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton tweeted that he will be visiting Azerbaijan on October 20 it could not have come sooner. This secular Muslim country of 9 million is one of America's most reliable yet underappreciated allies on the world stage. Mr. Bolton should use his visit to this geopolitically significant country sandwiched between a dangerous Russia and adventurous Iran to reiterate Washington's unwavering, strong and unabashed support for America's ally of over 26 years.

The aggravating geopolitical battle among superpowers is in the media spotlight. Disagreements among the US, Russia and Iran are deepening, which mainly affects the Middle East problem. These countries have taken a tough position on the Syrian problem. The US and Iranian presidents exchanged taunts during the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly. This was followed by a terrorist attack at a military parade in the city of Ahvaz in Iran. Against a background of such dangerous processes, the developments in the South Caucasus accelerated. The presidents of Turkey and Russia visited Azerbaijan. Nikol Pashinyan met with Hassan Rouhani in New York. Georgia called on Russia to pull out its military from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. What are the main signs of geopolitical processes in the South Caucasus against a background of these developments? We`ll try to find an answer to this question.

As earlier reported, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatovic paid a visit to Armenia where she met with the country`s officials. Although the Armenian media made several announcements of the visit before the arrival of Ms Mijatovic, they confined themselves to issuing a brief official statement on the results of the trip. Of course, questions remain about Ms Mijatovic`s impressions of Armenia, her political sincerity as well as geopolitical interests and legal criteria based on which she approached human rights problems in the country. Answers will naturally be featured in her future report on the results of her visit.

The International Organisation of La Francophonie (IOF), which includes 58 states representing five continents with a total population of 890 million people, is planning to hold its 17th summit in the Armenian capital of Yerevan on October 11-12. Although the French language and cultural values represent the two cornerstones on which IOF is based, promotion of peace, tranquility, human rights and freedoms globally also constitutes one of the main principles of the organization`s mission and activity.

Long-term educational and employment needs have historically been severely undervalued in humanitarian planning. But, as much as refugees need proper food, shelter, and health care today, they also need the knowledge and tools to build new lives and contribute to society tomorrow, whether in their home country or in a new one.

Any post-Trump US president will confront a fundamental question. Can the US promote democratic values without military intervention and crusades, and at the same time take a non-hegemonic lead in establishing and maintaining the institutions needed for a world of interdependence?