AIR Center

When Baku was selected to host the 13th Session of the United Nations World Urban Forum (WUF13), it was not merely a recognition of Azerbaijan’s growing organizational capacity on the world stage. It was, in many ways, a fitting venue for a conversation about post-conflict reconstruction that the country has been engaged in more urgently…

Executive Summary: Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Azerbaijan on May 4, holding talks with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku that produced a roadmap for elevating their comprehensive strategic partnership across energy, defense, investment, and education. Meloni arrived in Baku directly from the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, a route that reinforces the…

The US-led blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has led Beijing to switch to continental suppliers of energy from Russia and Central Asia to offset the disruption of oil supplies from the Persian Gulf. Disruptions to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz once again reveal the structural vulnerabilities of global oil markets. As the world’s largest…

Heydar Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s third president (1923–2003), remains the foundational architect of the country’s modern achievements and its deepening partnership with Europe. The pipelines, institutions and diplomatic doctrines he set in motion more than three decades ago have made Azerbaijan an indispensable energy and transit partner for the EU — a legacy now embodied in the…

Since the early days of Azerbaijan’s restoration of sovereignty over the formerly occupied Karabagh region in 2020/2023, some Armenian political circles and diaspora networks have accused Baku of destroying Armenian cultural and religious heritage in the liberated territories. The recent claims about the demolition of some structures in Khankandi, Karabakh, have brought this issue back…

In recent years, the momentum generated in the normalization of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia has brought the sides closer to permanently overcoming a conflict that lasted for around three decades. Since 2020, new geopolitical realities have emerged, creating a tangible basis for the conclusion of a peace agreement between the parties. Within this context,…

The dynamics between Armenia and Azerbaijan since the end of the Second Karabakh War have been defined by a gradual, fragile transition from active conflict to an uneasy peace-building phase. The collapse of the separatist entity in 2023 and subsequent diplomatic engagement, supported by actors such as the United States and the European Union, created…

The sharp escalation of the Iran-related crisis in the Strait of Hormuz has once again exposed the fragility of global energy supply chains dependent on maritime chokepoints. Nowhere is this vulnerability more visible than in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a substantial share of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows. As the…

Executive Summary: Azerbaijan lodged diplomatic protests against Russia over President Vladimir Putin’s comments on Karabakh during his April 1 meeting with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which Baku regarded as an attempt to reopen an issue it deems resolved. Despite accumulated grievances over the past year and a half, including the December 2024 targeting of…

Executive Summary The outbreak of the conflict in Iran in March 2026 transformed Azerbaijan’s southern border into an active crisis-management zone, requiring coordination on border control, security measures, and humanitarian logistics. Baku’s response has combined operational measures and controlled diplomacy, including evacuation of citizens, facilitation of third-country transit through Azerbaijani territory, humanitarian aid deliveries via…