Azerbaijan

Paper Summary:

This paper identifies eight requirements for a democratic state and examines the reasons why Azerbaijan does not fulfill these conditions. The paper explains that these reasons include widespread corruption, the lack of an assured territorial integrity and an authoritarian structure of government. The paper concludes that, although some progress has been made, it may be some time before the obstacles hindering the democratization of Azerbaijan are removed.

From the Paper:

"Azerbaijan is a country with a Turkic and majority-Muslim population. The country was independent for a short period of time, from 1918 to 1920, and it regained its independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Azerbaijan has been embroiled in an ongoing conflict with Armenia over the Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh enclave (with what is primarily an Armenian population). As part of this conflict, Azerbaijan has lost about 16% of its territory and now supports some 600,000 internally displaced persons. The country faces widespread corruption, and while there has been a promise of widespread wealth from Azerbaijan's undeveloped petroleum resources, this promise remains largely unfulfilled ("Azerbaijan" para. 1)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Azerbaijan." CIA World Factbook (2007). April 16, 2007. https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/aj.html
• Bachman, Ronald D. Romania: A Country Study (Washington: Library of Congress, 1989), 44-45.
• Dixon, Robyn. "Gunmen Kill Premier in Armenian Attack." Los Angeles Times (October 28, 1999), A18.
• Freizer, Sabine. "Dynasty and democracy in Azerbaijan: a warning for Central Asia?" OpenDemocracy (12 May 2003). April 17, 2007. http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy/article_1626.jsp.
• Garibov, O. and S. Abbasov. "Unfortunately, a very bad 'design.'" Echo (10 April 2001). April 18, 2007. http://www.andigross.ch/html/site435.htm.

More papers on Azerbaijan:

• Research Paper # 92970 : "Azerbaijan"
• Case Study # 129049 : "The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict"
• Essay # 12839 : "Caspian Sea Oil & International Theory"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: