The Azerbaijani version of Islam

Azerbaijan is the only republic of the South Caucasus, the majority of its are Muslims. It is a religion deeply rooted in the culture and history of the Azeris, which is also a significant element of the identity of this nation. Although 70 years of Soviet rule in the territory of today’s Azerbaijan destroyed the role of religion among the local community (at least certainly in the public sphere), the collapse of the USSR brought a certain revival both national and religious, which was also related to the escalation of the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. Islam to some extent consolidated society in the face of increasing tensions, becoming the base of the survival of tradition and rebuilding an independent state. At present, it should be stated that Islam plays a small role in the political life of Azerbaijan. The state is secular in its character as well as the local nationalist movement. However, the public debate constantly raises the question of whether Azerbaijani Islam is in the sphere of fundamentalist influence, which could lead to a religious revolution. The paper attempts to analyze the role and significance of Islam in today’s Azerbaijan, with particular emphasis on its importance to the Azerbaijani identity, financing Muslim communities, the activities of radical groups and the popularity of religion among youth.

Celem opracowania jest analiza specyfiki konfliktu w Górskim Karabachu oraz jego implikacji dla bezpieczeństwa Azerbejdżanu. Określono tym samym genezę konfliktu, jego przedmiot oraz proces pokojowy. Azerbejdżan postrzegał konflikt karabaski jako zagrażający jego integralności terytorialnej i niepodległości oraz roli międzynarodowej. Porozumienie z listopada 2020 roku można traktować jako sukces polityki Azerbejdżanu, gdyż sankcjonuje prawnie przyłączenie większości terytorium Górskiego Karabachu.

The following paper employs a normative approach and focuses on the problem of the current state of the local self-government in the South Caucasus countries: Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. Since all these countries are members of the Council of Europe, a reference point for decentralisation is the European Charter of Local Self-Government. The paper's main thesis is that despite showing some similarities, the countries have introduced different models of decentralisation that do not fully meet the Council of Europe’s criteria. Such variation is in line with the different political systems of these states and their level of democratisation. The more democratic the state is, the stronger the decentralisation it has adopted. Thus, decentralisation in Georgia follows the European model of public policy, while Azerbaijan is preserving the former Soviet model of weak self-government, with central authorities playing the leading role in public services. The current changes in Armenia’s model resemble the Georgian track of reforms. The findings of this paper may be applicable both in further theoretical research and in implementing reforms of local self-government in various post-Soviet states.

The growing geopolitical dynamics in the South Caucasus and the Caspian Black Sea basin region and the role of Azerbaijan as an undisputed regional leader in this space appear to be an urgent trend in international relations. Azerbaijan is not a member of either NATO or the CSTO, fighting for leadership in this region. But at the same time, Azerbaijan is successfully developing bilateral and multilateral relations with the participating states of these military-political alliances. Armenia, as a member of the CSTO, and Georgia, which has officially included the goal of joining NATO in the Basic Laws of their country, to a certain extent, can produce a degree of inter-bloc competition to solve their own problems. Azerbaijan can objectively reduce the risks of geopolitical tension in the region by promoting a peaceful cooperation agenda through inter-block communication. Under the leadership of the President of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan was the first in the post-Soviet space to resolve an interstate conflict within the framework of international law. Systemic and structural-functional methods are used in the geopolitical, geostrategic and geo-economic analysis of the role of Azerbaijan in the studied region, the development and implementation of the Grand Strategy of President Ilham Aliyev and the main directions of national geoengineering at the present stage of development of Azerbaijan. The comparative method is used to analyse the main trends in international relations based on the study of international, international legal, and foreign documents and materials.