NEWTIMES

The Turkmen capital of Ashgabat has hosted a meeting of the heads of government of the member states of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The meeting discussed a wide range of very important issues. The discussions were fruitful and ended with the signing of nine documents. The documents put an emphasis on several aspects of cooperation among the CIS member countries. What draws particular interest among them is the expansion of transit capacity and protection of intellectual property. These issues are of pivotal importance to the world community and play a key role in developing relations among the member countries. The tone of the meeting was positive in general. This article will highlight several geopolitical aspects of the Ashgabat summit.

U.S. President Donald Trump sent two letters to the Azerbaijan President in a short span of time. It is of special importance against a background of rapid change of global geopolitical processes and emerging controversies. In both letters, the U.S. President briefly highlights key geopolitical, economic and energy issues. He describes Azerbaijan as the most successful and leader country of the region, stressing that Azerbaijan can play an even greater leadership role. This means that official Baku can develop its successful efforts to play a greater leadership role in a larger geopolitical area. As if Donald Trump opens up the phenomenon of Azerbaijan`s realities to the world. This article will provide an insight into the U.S. President`s second letter.

European integration has been transformed into neo-liberal project when the economic crisis and global competition were strengthened starting from 1970s. There were other important occurrences which caused a shift in economic model, like 1973 oil price hike, 1975 U.S. defeat in Vietnam, halt in Bretton Woods System in 1971. After Keynesianism, rising social responsibilities of states and caring the class which consumes without producing also accelerated unavoidable economic shift.

The place and role of every nation in history is conditioned by the extraordinary mission of a great personality who took responsibility under difficult political circumstances to play an indispensable role in its fate, and laid the foundations of firm statehood traditions with his progressive ideas, unique governance qualities, wisdom and vision. Sent by God, these chosen personalities establish the optimum state model and create political succession traditions based on their nation`s statehood ideology, political principles and national values. For Russians such a personality is Peter the First, for Americans it is George Washington, for Brits it is Winston Churchill, for French it is Charles de Gaulle, for Germans it is Otto von Bismarck, for Chinese it is Mao Zedong, for Turks it is Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. And for Azerbaijanis it is Heydar Aliyev!

The European Parliament adopted two historic documents at one of its recent sessions, identifying the threats faced by the organization and the main principles of counteraction. Brussels obviously treats the problem very seriously because both resolutions focus largely on the existing threats, underlining their destructive role. Hybrid warfare seems to pose the major threat to the European Union. The military element also plays a role here. In fact, a common threat emerges to both the EU member states and young independent countries. This situation jeopardizes sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. In order to tackle these challenges, Brussels decided to determine the principles of counteraction. In this context, this article will look at the geopolitical aspect of EU-Azerbaijan relations.

The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia met in Moscow on April 15 to discuss the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The Russian foreign minister was also in attendance. The ministers released a statement following the meeting, positively hailing the discussions. Experts are making different forecasts, with some of them putting forward scenarios that meet interests of certain forces. In fact, the Moscow talks were a follow-up to the agreement reached in Vienna. Considering the Moscow meeting beyond this context is the distortion of reality. Some points were highlighted in Vienna. For example, the unchangeability of the format of talks. The Moscow meeting did not feature any point against this principle. In addition, Azerbaijan`s territorial integrity must be considered as a core principle. This was discussed in Moscow. At the same time, humanitarian measures were also high on the agenda. All these factors give a real picture of the Moscow meeting. This article will provide a geopolitical analysis of the discussions held in the Russian capital.

Today the world's primary energy resources consist of oil, natural gas, coal and in addition nuclear and hydroelectric power plants. Since the last decade new energy resources were added to this list, such as wind and solar energy, which are rapidly increasing in usage. However, data for the last five years show that despite the wide utilisation of alternative energy resources worldwide, the need for traditional energy resources has not diminished. This once more shows how significant Azerbaijan, and its natu­ral energy resources, are for Europe and the world's economy.

The Armenian media have been spreading absurd and contradictory reports in the wake of the meeting between the Azerbaijani President and the Armenian prime minister in Vienna where they discussed the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. They are obviously concerned about the society realizing the real essence of the talks. The Armenians either accuse Vladimir Putin or try to distort Ilham Aliyev`s words. Experts rightly admit Azerbaijan`s overwhelming superiority over Armenia both in diplomacy, economic development and army building as well as in geopolitics. Against this background, the Armenian political leadership`s and experts` confusion and concern is clearly felt. This article will feature a geopolitical analysis of the situation in the context of peaceful settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

The 70th anniversary of NATO was solemnly celebrated in Washington. Celebrations took place against a background of controversial statements. Disagreements among the member states have led to a series of events, which prompted experts and analysts to make forecasts, including on the state of U.S.-Turkey relations. But for some reason one point is disregarded – the United States is now at loggerheads with NATO members. Washington`s stance forced France and Germany to come up with an initiative to form a single European army. In this context, Washington`s motive for unfounded claims against Ankara seems understandable. On the other hand, the role of the Russian factor should not be downplayed. In this article, we will focus on several important aspects of the geopolitical relations among superpowers in the context of the 70th anniversary of the North Atlantic Alliance.

The meeting between Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Vienna on March 29 sparked interest of experts and media. The sides hadn`t held discussions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict for quite a while because of a change of government in Armenia in the wake of certain political developments. The process has now been revitalized. The OSCE Minsk Group co-chairs also attended the talks. Following the negotiations, the conflict parties and the co-chairs made positive remarks. In a statement, the co-chairs openly welcomed a positive point. The Armenian prime minister also described the talks as fruitful in general. However, the Azerbaijani President gave the most accurate and comprehensive description of the issue. This article will give a geopolitical insight into the Vienna meeting.