February 2026
The energy diplomacy represents one of the key dimensions of the contemporary foreign policy of Azerbaijan, a country located at the geopolitical crossroads between Europe and Asia, and which has, during the last decades, succeeded in transforming its energy position into an instrument of stability, development, and international cooperation. From the perspective of the Azerbaijani state strategy, energy diplomacy is not just about exporting oil and gas, but a mechanism for strategic positioning in a complex regional environment, where security issues, the interests of great powers, and internal needs for modernization intertwine into a unique foreign policy dynamic. This is exactly why Azerbaijan, by relying on significant resources and the transit potential, has developed a multi-vector foreign policy as a rational response to international competition and regional instability, while attempting to preserve sovereignty, territorial integrity, and economic prosperity through balancing between different centers of power. The multi-vector foreign policy implies a strategy of small and middle countries that, instead of linking to one hegemon, build and maintain relations with more key actors in parallel, thus diversifying their security, economic, and diplomatic pillars. In the realistic framework, such an approach emerges from the structure of an international system in which there is no central power, and thus, countries ensure their stability through a combination of power, alliances, and pragmatic organizations. In the case of Azerbaijan, the multi-vector model is recognized as a well-thought “policy of portfolios”: at the same time, Baku is developing strategic partnership with Turkey, maintaining working and functional relations with Russia and Iran, while building with the European Union and the United States of America a cooperation that is especially intense in the domains of energy security, economic flows, and regional stability. Such positioning enables Azerbaijan to reduce its vulnerability, avoid extensive dependence on one actor, and preserve its autonomy in foreign policy decision-making.
Energy diplomacy is the key instrument in this strategy, because energy in the Azerbaijani practice functions both as a source of national power and as a means of international connection. Projects such as the Southern Gas Corridor and the TANAP gas pipeline symbolize Azerbaijan’s ability to transform its own resources into long-term infrastructure arrangements that link the Caspian region with Europe, thereby contributing to European supply diversification and market stabilization. Through such projects, Azerbaijan profiled itself as a reliable energy partner, and the infrastructure itself has become a component of geopolitics: the energy routes are not just economic channels, but also the instruments of political predictability, reputation, and interdependence. At the same time, Baku intended to transform energy not into a lever of polarization, but into a platform of cooperation, thus confirming that countries rich in resources are not necessarily condemned by the resource curse, if they manage their revenues strategically and institutionally moderately.
In relation to Turkey, the energy diplomacy continues after the broader alliance, which includes security, infrastructure, trade, and cultural and political closeness. Azerbaijan and Turkey have conducted a powerful axis of cooperation, in which Ankara represents a key transit corridor for the placement of Azerbaijani gas towards Europe, while joint projects are strengthening the regional connection as well. In parallel, Azerbaijan insists on the development of corridors and transport routes that would additionally strengthen its role as a bridge between the East and the West, and thus its negotiation power in a wider Eurasian space. This dimension of foreign policy also has a security function: infrastructure, trade, and interdependence can contribute to the stability in the region, which has long been burdened by conflicts.
The relations with Russia carry along the ambivalent logic of cooperation and caution. Moscow is maintaining a significant role in the security architecture of the post-Soviet space, while Azerbaijan tends to cooperate with Russia, but without entering into a deeper dependence that would make its maneuver space narrower. Economic relations, transport routes, and some energy conditions point to the pragmatism of politics: Azerbaijan is deflecting open polarization and attempting to preserve functional relations with Russia, at the same time strengthening its relations with the West through energy cooperation and infrastructural projects. In this way, the multi-vector approach is confirmed as a balancing mechanism, especially in the conditions of transformed regional dynamics and foreign policy shocks that affect the allocation of influence in the South Caucasus. The relations with Iran represent one of the most sensitive components of the Azerbaijani foreign policy, because of ideological differences, regional competition, and security dilemmas that come from a wider geopolitical environment. Even though there are some deep historical, cultural, and religious relations, bilateral relations are often burdened by mistrust, including the question of regional corridors, influences of third actors, and fears of destabilization. Still, despite tensions, Baku and Tehran maintain pragmatic cooperation channels, above all through economic mechanisms and regional forms, because geography and common interests impose the need for a minimal functional stability. This additionally confirms the fact that the multi-vector policy of Azerbaijan does not rest on ideological alignment, but on selective connections in accordance with the national interest.
The US and the wider Western framework remain significant primarily because of energy security and the strategic interest in corridors that connect the Caspian Sea with European markets, with simultaneous occasional tensions regarding the issues of democracy and human rights. Even though the relations are not institutionalized on the level of a formal alliance, in these relations, Azerbaijan tends to preserve rational cooperation in the fields where its interests match, and especially in energy, regional stabilization, and diplomatic efforts in moments of crisis. With this, the character of Azerbaijani foreign policy is confirmed to be selectively cooperative: Baku is cooperating where cooperation brings along stability and development, at the same time attempting to preserve its political autonomy and avoid shaping politics under foreign conditions.
The security context of the South Caucasus, and especially the relations with Armenia and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, represents the axis that is strongly affecting the multi-vector strategy of Azerbaijan. During the examined period, there were some significant changes in the field and a shift in focus towards a post-conflict stabilization, reintegration of territories, infrastructural restoration, and attempts at normalization of relations. In this sense, energy and infrastructure are not peripheral, but integrated into a wider strategy: the development of transport and energy routes, opening up communication lines, and linking the region creates a potential for transforming once again the economic interdependence into a factor of deterrence from the renewal of conflicts. At the same time, through diplomatic channels, Azerbaijan insists on the principle of territorial integrity as a foundation of long-term stability, attempting to direct the post-conflict framework towards formalization of peace and reduction of security insecurity. In this context, it is important to stress that the issue of territorial integrity for Azerbaijan is not only political or legal, but also a deeply historical and identity issue, shaped by the experience of conflicts and long-term tendencies towards renewal of sovereignty over the internationally recognized borders. The remembrance of those who lost their lives while defending their country remains a strong social and moral backbone, providing an additional strength to the tendencies directed towards strengthening and preserving the existing peace. Exactly this sacrifice urges the state institutions to perceive stability and security not only as a strategic goal, but also as their debt towards the ones who gave their lives for it.
The development dimension of energy diplomacy additionally strengthens the legitimacy of this policy: energy revenues are directed towards infrastructure modernization, economic growth, and strengthening of state capacities, which allows Azerbaijan to present energy as a resource of modernization, and not as a source of internal destabilization. In modern conditions, Azerbaijan’s energy diplomacy also acquires a new, “green” component: faced with global energy transitions and climate challenges, Azerbaijan strives to adapt to new trends through investments in renewable sources and sustainable infrastructure, thus expanding its relevance in the future energy order.
In the end, I can say that the energy diplomacy between the West and the East in Azerbaijan’s foreign policy can be understood as the core of a multi-vector model that combines pragmatism, expanding partnerships, and strategic management of resources. Azerbaijan, using its geographical location and energy capacities, has built a position as a reliable partner and an important factor in regional stability, confirming that a medium-sized country can shape its environment if it turns resources into an instrument of cooperation and long-term interdependence. The sustainability of this approach will depend on the ability of a strong Baku to maintain a balance between regional interests and global connections in the coming period, adapting to changes in the security architecture, energy markets, and broader geopolitical trends, without giving up the basic goal: preserving sovereignty and stable development through strategically guided foreign policy flexibility.
Author: dr Violeta Rašković Talović