How Azerbaijan Manipulates Public Opinion in the US

To see how foreign interests distort reality to steer political debate and influence American foreign policy, look no further than a Dec. 5, 2012, meeting in the US Congress chaired by then-Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana.

The meeting was of the House subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia, and the star witness was Brenda Shaffer, a Ph.D. specialist on the Caucasus and former research director of Harvard’s Caspian Studies Program.

Burton introduced her as “the prettiest gal at the table.” And she, in turn, proceeded to warn assembled lawmakers that Iran was destabilizing pro-Western countries in that region, particularly its small but oil-rich neighbor, Azerbaijan.

But Burton and Shaffer both had ties to Azerbaijan they did not tell the committee about.

Shortly after this hearing was held, Burton resigned from the House and started a new job as chairman of the board of the Azerbaijan America Alliance, a lobby group promoting closer ties between the countries and apparently funded by a family close to the president of Azerbaijan.

Shaffer continued to praise Azerbaijan in other Congressional appearances, in numerous editorials and news articles, and in work with US think tanks.

Documents filed with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) less than two months before her 2012 testimony show that The DCI Group, a lobbying firm then under contract with Azerbaijan’s embassy in Washington, briefed her before her committee appearance. The firm is noted for pushing out its clients’ messages via seemingly neutral and independent third parties in a quest to “dominate the entire intellectual environment in which officials make policy decisions”.

This more subtle approach to influencing lawmakers builds on more traditional methods, such as the all-expense-paid trip to Baku in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members revealed by the Washington Post.

But the goal is the same: DCI specifically identifies legislators as a target group for “informational materials” about Azerbaijan in its Foreign Agents filings.

The DCI Group’s contract with the embassy spelled out how for US$ 20,000 a month it could craft and place op-eds in major online and traditional news outlets, develop a core group of think tanks for outreach, and “define new topics for positive engagement that parallel Azerbaijan's strategic goals”.


Call it idea laundering.


By Till Bruckner Published: 19 June 2015