Azerbaijan's security strategy after the second Nagorno-Karabakh War: Normalization or re-securitization?

This thesis analyzes the shift in Azerbaijan's security strategy following the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War and explores whether this shift reflects desecuritization efforts or resecuritization tendencies. The war, which ended in 2020, signified not only a military victory for Azerbaijan but also the restoration of its territorial integrity and the strengthening of its sovereignty over Karabakh. However, the period that began after the war was not limited to reconstruction and rehabilitation; it also ushered in a period of reshaping security perceptions, threat assessments, and foreign policy orientations. This thesis analyzes this transformation within the framework of the Copenhagen School's Securitization Theory. Securitization is considered a political tool that can emerge not only in times of crisis but also in the post-war period, and the threat perceptions, security approaches, discourse, practices, and strategies shaped around the concept of resecuritization are highlighted. The research examines Azerbaijan's post-war security policies from both internal and external perspectives. Discourses shaped by threats such as terrorism and border security, along with Armenia's revisionist policies, the potential for intervention by external actors, and international legal debates, have demonstrated the persistence of securitization tendencies. Furthermore, this thesis comprehensively examines Azerbaijan's initiatives regarding the peace process, economic development goals, the return of displaced populations, and normalization efforts within the context of reconstruction activities. One of the key findings of the thesis is that "securitization" did not completely disappear with the end of the war; on the contrary, it was reproduced with new security codes. In the Azerbaijani government's discourse, Karabakh is still coded as a sensitive region, and any developments related to this region are presented as an existential issue. In this context, the study examines how discourses of peace and desecuritization, along with security-focused approaches, coexisted in the post-war period and how this dual process manifested itself in Azerbaijan's security strategies. The thesis demonstrates that the post-war perception of security was reproduced not only in military but also in political, social, and diplomatic dimensions, and that securitization persisted in various spheres. As a result, it is argued that both desecuritization and resecuritization tendencies coexist in Azerbaijan's security strategy, and that this dual structure has the capacity to determine future regional dynamics.