India, Sept. 29 -- Baku does not balance between friends and enemies. It balances between the interests of its friends, its neighbours and its own survival. In an age increasingly obsessed with blocs, Azerbaijan offers a rather different lesson. The strongest position for a small state may not be choosing a side. It may be making every side need a relationship with you

Azerbaijan is one of those countries that makes conventional geopolitics look strangely inadequate. Here is a predominantly Shia country that is deeply secular, culturally Turkic and strategically close to Israel. It is bound to Turkey by an almost fraternal alliance, maintains a strategic partnership with Pakistan, is deepening ties with China, and yet remains obliged by ...