Baku Dialogues Vol.4 | No.1 | Winter 2020-2021
Date Issued
2020-09
Editor(s)
Ismailzade, Fariz
Krnjević Mišković, Damjan
Pashayev, Hafiz
Aghayev, Nesimi
Chetin, Hikmet
Japaridze, Tedo
Sachs, Jeffrey D.
Safayev, Sodik
Seyidov, Samad
Starr, Frederick
Wimbush, Enders
Abstract
The first issue of Baku Dialogues was released in Fall 2014 and was published semi regularly
in the years that followed. The present issue, published in Fall 2020, marks the relaunch
of Baku Dialogues, ADA University’s flagship English-language quarterly journal.
Henceforth, the publication’s subtitle is Policy Perspectives on the Silk Road Region.
This choice reflects a triple intention. First, to cover broadly topics of geopolitical relevance
to the overlapping set of regions to which Azerbaijan and its neighbors belong. We thus
define the Silk Road region loosely as the geographic space looking west past Anatolia to
the warm seas beyond; north across the Caspian towards the Great Plain and the Great
Steppe; east to the peaks of the Altai and the arid sands of the Taklamakan; and south
towards the Hindu Kush and the Indus valley, looping down around in the direction of the
Persian Gulf and across the Fertile Crescent.
Second, to focus on contemporary cross-cutting issues that impact on the international
position of what we view as one of the few keystone regions of global affairs, ranging
from energy politics and infrastructure security to economic development and
cultural heritage.
Third, the choice of subtitle is indicative of our deep-seated conviction that the
comprehensive rejuvenation of a vast region that stood for centuries at the fulcrum of
trade, innovation, and refinement requires both a healthy respect of frontiers as sovereign
markers of territorial integrity and a farsighted predisposition to ensure the region
can continue to grow as a strategic center of attraction for capital, goods, talent, and
technologies.
The editorial premise of Baku Dialogues is that the Silk Road region is and will remain an
important seam of international relations, continuing to serve as (i) a significant political
and economic crossroads between various geographies; (ii) an important intercessor
between major powers; and (iii) an unavoidable gateway between different blocks of states,
regional associations, and civilizational groupings.
The intended audience of Baku Dialogues is diverse: national, regional, and international
policymakers, diplomats, officials, legislators, commentators, thought leaders, journalists,
business executives, think-tankers, academics, scholars, and students—all those who in
one way or another pay attention to issues of consequence affecting the trajectory of this
part of the world.
As has been the case throughout its publication history, Baku Dialogues is and will
remain an independent policy journal. The content of each issue of the journal (e.g.
essays, interviews, profiles, etc.) thus does not represent any institutional viewpoint.
The analyses provided and viewpoints expressed by the authors featured in Baku
Dialogues do not necessarily reflect those of its publisher, editors, consultants, Editorial
Advisory Council members, and anyone else affiliated with ADA University or Baku
Dialogues. Our sole acceptance of responsibility is the provision of a forum dedicated to
intellectual discussion and debate.
in the years that followed. The present issue, published in Fall 2020, marks the relaunch
of Baku Dialogues, ADA University’s flagship English-language quarterly journal.
Henceforth, the publication’s subtitle is Policy Perspectives on the Silk Road Region.
This choice reflects a triple intention. First, to cover broadly topics of geopolitical relevance
to the overlapping set of regions to which Azerbaijan and its neighbors belong. We thus
define the Silk Road region loosely as the geographic space looking west past Anatolia to
the warm seas beyond; north across the Caspian towards the Great Plain and the Great
Steppe; east to the peaks of the Altai and the arid sands of the Taklamakan; and south
towards the Hindu Kush and the Indus valley, looping down around in the direction of the
Persian Gulf and across the Fertile Crescent.
Second, to focus on contemporary cross-cutting issues that impact on the international
position of what we view as one of the few keystone regions of global affairs, ranging
from energy politics and infrastructure security to economic development and
cultural heritage.
Third, the choice of subtitle is indicative of our deep-seated conviction that the
comprehensive rejuvenation of a vast region that stood for centuries at the fulcrum of
trade, innovation, and refinement requires both a healthy respect of frontiers as sovereign
markers of territorial integrity and a farsighted predisposition to ensure the region
can continue to grow as a strategic center of attraction for capital, goods, talent, and
technologies.
The editorial premise of Baku Dialogues is that the Silk Road region is and will remain an
important seam of international relations, continuing to serve as (i) a significant political
and economic crossroads between various geographies; (ii) an important intercessor
between major powers; and (iii) an unavoidable gateway between different blocks of states,
regional associations, and civilizational groupings.
The intended audience of Baku Dialogues is diverse: national, regional, and international
policymakers, diplomats, officials, legislators, commentators, thought leaders, journalists,
business executives, think-tankers, academics, scholars, and students—all those who in
one way or another pay attention to issues of consequence affecting the trajectory of this
part of the world.
As has been the case throughout its publication history, Baku Dialogues is and will
remain an independent policy journal. The content of each issue of the journal (e.g.
essays, interviews, profiles, etc.) thus does not represent any institutional viewpoint.
The analyses provided and viewpoints expressed by the authors featured in Baku
Dialogues do not necessarily reflect those of its publisher, editors, consultants, Editorial
Advisory Council members, and anyone else affiliated with ADA University or Baku
Dialogues. Our sole acceptance of responsibility is the provision of a forum dedicated to
intellectual discussion and debate.