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On 4 August 2025, Topchubashov Center research fellow Simona Scotti delivered a session at the summer school “A step towards sustainable development”, held in Quba and attended by university students from Turkic countries. At the event, organized by the Azerbaijan Sport Academy in partnership with Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Youth and Sports, she introduced the UN…
“Who controls the Heartland commands the World-Island; who rules the World-Island commands the world.” — Halford Mackinder, 1904 In the early 2010s, the European petrochemical industry stood as a global benchmark — technologically sophisticated, environmentally conscious, and commercially competitive. From Antwerp to the Ruhr, European refineries and crackers powered the continent’s industrial base, serving the…
The relationship between Azerbaijan and Russia is undergoing a fundamental shift, marked by rising tensions, strategic recalibrations, and broader geopolitical implications for the South Caucasus. What might have begun as isolated incidents—dismissed by some as bureaucratic turf wars or local criminality—has evolved into a wider geopolitical rupture. The Baku-Moscow axis, once grounded in transactional pragmatism,…
The June 2025 Iran-Israel escalations, though brief, disrupted Armenia’s economic activity on the trade routes passing through Iran, one of its major trade partners. Probability of continuing risks to economic stability and trade have sparked widespread concern in Armenian media and expert circles, surfacing in parallel to the anticipated threats to Armenian security, significantly contingent…
The 16+1 Initiative, introduced by the People’s Republic of China in 2012, represents a strategic framework aimed at deepening economic and diplomatic engagement with sixteen Central and Eastern European (CEE) states. As a complementary mechanism to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), it was initially lauded for its potential to bolster infrastructure development, enhance trade…
On 15 July 2025, Topchubashov Center`s director Rusif Huseynov partook in a roundtable themed “Security Challenges and Future Opportunities in the Black Sea Region” and organized by the Centre of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Centre) and Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Azerbaijan. As one of the speakers of the event, he spoke…
Following the ceasefire that ended the twelve-day Iran-Israel war, tensions surrounding Iran’s nuclear program are approaching a pivotal juncture: the imminent expiration of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in 2015. Many of the mechanisms embedded in the resolution, including the critical snapback mechanism, will cease to apply after 18 October 2025, unless…
In January 2018, China released its first white paper on the Arctic, titled “China’s Arctic Policy”. Sections in this document mention that “China is an important stakeholder in Arctic affairs. Geographically, China is a “Near-Arctic State,” one of the continental states that are closest to the Arctic Circle.” This articulation of its status faced criticism, particularly…
There is a “break or brake” moment emerging for the South Caucasus as it enters a completely new geopolitical realm. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine has forced the three republics to recalibrate their distance from Moscow: Armenia and Azerbaijan have intensified a rather subtle decoupling, whereas Georgia is attempting to symbolically reorient itself toward a…
On 7 July 2025, Dr. Deen Sharp, Research Fellow at LSE Middle East Centre and expert on urban studies and political geography, visited Topchubashov Center and met with the Center’s Director, Rusif Huseynov. During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on urban governance, post-conflict reconstruction, and the spatial dynamics of power in the Middle…
