Eurasia’s Hinge: It’s More than just Energy

Without energy, the small Caucasian state of Azerbaijan would likely have been an afterthought in the post-Soviet space. But Azerbaijan is much more than an energy hub. It is precisely at the hinge of powerful cultural forces where old empires overlap and modern states compete — and it has energy. It is infused with Iranian culture, ethnically and linguistically Turkic, and historically part of the Russian, then Soviet empires, and all three influences are competing for the greatest attention.