AZE.US
The South Caucasus is no longer being treated as a distant periphery and is instead becoming a region of growing strategic importance, political analyst Ahmed Alili said on the Novosti Kavkaza channel.
Alili said the region is drawing greater outside attention as broader security and transport concerns push Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia closer to the center of international calculations. He argued that this shift is creating a rare opening for the South Caucasus that should not be wasted.
According to Alili, Azerbaijan stands to benefit from that shift not only because of its geography, but also because of its potential diplomatic role. He said Baku has experience serving as a venue for sensitive contacts and could now find its mediation and political outreach needed more than before.
He also suggested that the region’s importance is rising in the eyes of European and other external actors, with more delegations, meetings and quiet diplomatic engagement focused on Azerbaijan and the wider South Caucasus. In his view, that growing attention reflects a broader realization that developments in this region can no longer be treated as secondary.
Alili additionally pointed to changes in the region’s political and information landscape. He said social media has created new cross-border political visibility, with Armenian and Azerbaijani audiences increasingly watching each other’s leaders and rhetoric more closely than before. In his view, that is reshaping how the South Caucasus functions politically, even beyond formal diplomacy.
Speaking about Azerbaijan’s ties with Georgia, Alili said the frequency of top-level visits should not be overinterpreted. A smaller number of visible meetings, he argued, does not necessarily signal a problem and may instead reflect a relationship that is already operating at a stable level.
Overall, Alili’s message was that the South Caucasus is entering a period in which its political weight is increasing, and Azerbaijan may have more room than before to shape outcomes rather than simply react to them.
AZE.US