The Middle Corridor at a Turning Point: A New Model of Cooperation Between the United States, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus

On June 2, Baku hosted the first Azerbaijan–United States Economic Dialogue, demonstrating that relations between the two countries have entered a new stage of development. The event became the first institutional platform for economic cooperation...

Relations between Azerbaijan and United States have long contained a paradox. Both countries describe each other as important partners and emphasize the significance of energy, security, and logistics, yet more than three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, their cooperation has still not evolved into a full-fledged strategic alliance. Instead of a stable architecture of partnership, a complicated system of mutual interests, limitations, and cautious pragmatism has emerged.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump should offer Azerbaijan a large-scale agreement that would lift restrictions on American arms sales to Baku in exchange for the release of dozens of political prisoners, according to an analytical article published by experts Andrew D’Anieri and Mercedes Sapuppo of the U.S.-based think tank Atlantic Council.

In the grand chamber of the United States Congress, where rhetoric often arrives sharpened and partisan, King Charles III chose a different instrument: restraint. His speech, delivered during a high-profile visit to Washington, unfolded as a study in calibrated diplomacy — a careful weaving of principle and politeness at a moment when transatlantic relations face renewed strain. The British monarch, bound by tradition to political neutrality, nonetheless managed to articulate positions on some of the most divisive issues of the day without naming his disagreements outright.