HOT!
Vay, mama jan, it has gotten rather toasty. Despite a quick rain once in a while, it is mostly clear skies and... hot. Last night it was light out till almost 10pm, it was perfect cafe weather. Of course, the number of tourists/visitors is mushrooming day by day as well.
I was in Karabakh last week when the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline was opened. It was strange to be there and see the footage on TV there. The years have flown by, I must say. I really thought a peace deal would be reached by the time oil began to flow. I also assumed that Armenians would make it as hard for oil to flow out of Baku, as Azeris have made it hard for natural gas and everything else to flow to Armenia. Either Armenians are just nicer than the Azeris, or the security on the pipe is much more serious. Either way, the amount of cash that will flow into Azerbaijan is mind boggling. It is also almost humorous to hear Azerbaijan whining about the smaller aid package it gets from the USA and Section 907 when they have so many billions of dollars in oil. Anyway, despite the fact that the amount of money available to them for arms purposes has mushroomed, I also hope that same money flow convinces them that risking it in battle is the last thing they want to do.
I was in Karabakh last week when the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline was opened. It was strange to be there and see the footage on TV there. The years have flown by, I must say. I really thought a peace deal would be reached by the time oil began to flow. I also assumed that Armenians would make it as hard for oil to flow out of Baku, as Azeris have made it hard for natural gas and everything else to flow to Armenia. Either Armenians are just nicer than the Azeris, or the security on the pipe is much more serious. Either way, the amount of cash that will flow into Azerbaijan is mind boggling. It is also almost humorous to hear Azerbaijan whining about the smaller aid package it gets from the USA and Section 907 when they have so many billions of dollars in oil. Anyway, despite the fact that the amount of money available to them for arms purposes has mushroomed, I also hope that same money flow convinces them that risking it in battle is the last thing they want to do.
posted by Raffi K. at 10:55 AM
4 Comments:
Happier they become, due to better financial situations, the less they think about war, is this not correct? (I'm talking about the people, not the government.)
Nope. Just look at the Americans. Prosperity does not necessitate peacefulness.
They will be able to buy better guns though.
Well, Americans are a different issue all together.
Re. the peace/money issue, the US is the world's only superpower and can pretty much get away with anything it wants. Besides, it doesn't have a conscript army or a pipeline passing by an area controlled by people it is effectively at war with.
Re. 907, however, it has been pointed out to me in the past that this pretty much really obstructs US financial assistance in the form of USAID money to programmes in Azerbaijan that could support the development of NGOs and civil society in general.
The point being that yes, the Azeri government may get billions of dollars to develop their military but USAID would support democracy-strengthening programs or support the independent (read opposition) media. Military assistance, of course, is another issue but the US seems to be doing that anyway.
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