The impact of Azerbaijan energy policy on the South Caucasus after the 1990

The purpose of this thesis is to explain the energy-based foreign policy of Azerbaijan which is one of the 15 republics that gained independence as a result of the disintegration of the USSR in 1990 under difficult circumstances; and to explain the impact of this foreign policy on the South Caucasus. After the fall of the important actor of the Cold War, the Soviet Union, there was a decline of the chain of connected economies in all administrated countries under it. However, the situation was completely different in Azerbaijan. Along with the economic collapse, the Armenia's occupation policy in its territory with the Russian support has made the difficult situation even worse. Despite the negative political environment that threatens the stability in the region, Azerbaijan was aiming to improve its economy with "smart power" strategy in its foreign policy by using energy factor. On the one hand, Azerbaijan was intending to protect its independence, and on the other hand it was trying to guarantee its security and solve the problem of Nagorno-Karabakh. With the Agreement of the Century, Azerbaijan drew the attention of the west and the USA; and became a part of collaborative energy-intensive projects which has transformed Azerbaijan into an important actor in the international system. In this thesis, Azerbaijani, Turkish, Russian and English sources are used; and historical developments were written in chronological order. Within this context, the geographical position of the Caucasus and Azerbaijan; brief history; the historical development of the energy sector; the energy policy of Azerbaijan which was resumed during its independence in the post-Cold War period; and the pipeline strategy that Azerbaijan has been dealing with for the transportation of produced oil have been discussed in this study. All in all, Azerbaijan, located importantly in the region, is analyzed within the balance policy and the impact of its current regional foreign policy have been discussed. As a final projection, it is possible to claim that the potential of Azerbaijan energy politics is mainly lying on its upcoming foreign policy vision that it might develop in the future.