Successful Implementation of the Energy Strategy by Azerbaijan as a Small Power to Achieve National Interests

Azerbaijan is a small power in the system of classification of states in international relations according to their potential. Having gained independence in 1991, Azerbaijan began to master the realities of the international system within which it was supposed to become a subject. After the collapse of the Socialist Bloc and the USSR, the only Super Power was the United States and the West began to acquire a dominant role in the world. However, Azerbaijan and other republics of the former Soviet Union were outside the spectrum of their interests and were perceived as a sphere of influence by Russia. Since independence, Azerbaijan has faced serious political and economic problems, as well as the occupation of its territories by Armenia. To resolve all these problems, an important factor for Azerbaijan was to form strong ties with the main actors of international relations and form a balance between powers. For small powers, this choice of foreign policy is the most appropriate. Understanding the optimality of this kind of strategy appeared only in 1993 with the coming to power of political guru Heydar Aliyev. Heydar Aliyev understood that the formation of a balance could be possible only if several great powers had an interest in this small power at once. However, in the region, with the consensus, there only one great power was dominant. Thus, Azerbaijan needed to change the situation and form an interest in other great powers. Azerbaijan’s only trump card was its energy resources. Due to them, Azerbaijan could attract the attention of large energy companies, and after it the attention of their governments. The article explains how, using the energy factor, a small force, Azerbaijan managed to form a geopolitical and geo-economic strategy favorable for this country and achieve existing national interests.