NEWTIMES

The Azerbaijani President`s visit to the Turkmen capital of Ashgabat on November 21-22 is still in the spotlight. There were certain problems in the two countries` relationship several years ago. But now the whole world witnesses that all the problems were solved. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev played a crucial role in this. With his patience, rational and far-sighted policy, the Azerbaijani leader prevented the problem from deteriorating into a standoff. The two brotherly countries are already working on programs for deepening and expanding their strategic relations. It was witnessed by a number of agreements signed in the capital of Turkmenistan. In this article, we will highlight geopolitical and economic aspects of President Ilham Aliyev`s visit and their relation to communications and transport sector.

The U.S.-based Stratfor`s recent assessment of key developments in 2019 has raised concerns. According to its forecasts, the standoff between the U.S., Iran and Russia in the South Caucasus is going to increase next year, affecting Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia. But Washington has different approaches to each of these states. Stratfor forecasts that the U.S. will try to exploit Armenia and Georgia against Russia, while Azerbaijan will attract its attention for pressuring Iran. Washington will offer weapons sales to Armenia and also increase security support and conduct more military exercises with Georgia. As regards Azerbaijan, the U.S. may offer it decrease its economic and energy ties with Iran. All this is likely to increase geopolitical risks in the region. In this article, we will elaborate on Stratfor`s assessments of key geopolitical developments in the South Caucasus in 2019.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev`s fifth visit to Belarus has grabbed experts` attention. The Belarus President said they were looking forward to the Azerbaijani leader`s visit. The two presidents discussed a range of very important issues and signed a number of agreements covering different areas. Ilham Aliyev and Alexander Lukashenko signed a joint statement. Experts are considering Azerbaijan-Belarus relations in regional and global contexts. They say Baku and Minsk have reiterated that they are frank strategic partners. This tendency is believed to strengthen. This side of the issue relates to several geopolitical factors. The analysis of these interconnected factors reveals three historic features of the Azerbaijani President`s visit to Belarus.

Given its potential and role in global geopolitical processes, the European Union is considered a superpower. Some members of the organizations are the world`s most developed countries. Four of the G7 states are members of the European Union. Experts are very sensitive to political, ideological and geoeconomic issues relating to the EU. Expert analyses on the problems facing the organization and its future have recently grown. Will the EU be able to tackle the problems? How is the organization reacting to internal and external difficulties? To answer these questions,we need to clarify some controversial features of this organization.

Two decisions announced by the United States in November have grabbed the global spotlight. Experts admit that although these two events cover different areas, they are interconnected. It is Washington`s decision to re-impose anti-Iranian sanctions and pledge a total of 15 million US dollars for information which could lead to the arrest of three PKK leaders. If we look at the ongoing developments in the Middle East and nearby geopolitical regions from one perspective, we can conclude that very dangerous scenarios may lie behind these two events. If anti-Iranian sanctions encourage tragedy, poverty and disorder in a broader geography, the creation of a new terrorist organization to replace PKK may bring about new tragedies. The United States` efforts to officially rehabilitate another terrorist organization serve this goal. In this article, we will try to analyze possible consequences of these developments.

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.

Azerbaijan successfully hosted the 6th Baku International Humanitarian Forum. This time the motto of the event addressed creativity and human development. These issues were discussed in the context of humanity. The two-day forum brought together hundreds of delegates from different parts of the world. President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev made a comprehensive speech at the event. One of the reasons why the forum was important was that turbulence in the South Caucasus has increased amid certain forces` attempts to aggravate the situation. Against this background Armenia tried to host a pseudo-humanitarian event. But it has produced no results. Meanwhile, Baku International Humanitarian Forum addressed a range of pressing issues of global concern. In this context, we would like to look at the geopolitical significance of the Baku Forum.

Implementing specific programs is not an easy task nowadays. A wide variety of conflicts happening in every part of the world have caused numerous problems and difficulties. The South Caucasus region is particularly volatile from geopolitical and geoeconomic points of view. Experience shows that each time Azerbaijan is kick-starting a huge and important project certain forces try to disrupt the process. This was the case with the Contract of the Century, TANAP and TAP agreements and the Southern Gas Corridor project. The recent inauguration of Star oil refinery, Azerbaijan`s largest investment abroad, is a milestone historic event of huge geopolitical and geoeconomic significance in this context. The presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey underlined this in their speeches at the opening ceremony of Star. This article will look at some of these points.

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