Where is the United States on the Azerbaijani Destruction of the Armenian Enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh?

In the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian War, where the United States government condemns and indirectly fights against the Russian invasion of a resource-rich nation, it is difficult to find consistency in American foreign policy. Not only does the government regularly invade countries like Iraq and support breakaway regions in countries like Serbia and Sudan when it is convenient, but it stands idly by as Azerbaijan consumes the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as the Republic of Artsakh). If American foreign policy were really about condemning bullies and defending democracies, it would have committed American troops to push back the Azerbaijani attack, or at least sent military aid to Armenia (I am not arguing in favor of American intervention here, but for the sake of consistency, why is it not being done?).

Since Nagorno-Karabakh seems to have no resources that the Biden administration would like to secure, there is little to no action. The United States views Azerbaijan as an ally for the purposes of protecting European energy security and the Southern Gas Corridor and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline (increasing the prior eight billion cubic meters of oil exports to Europe to twelve billion in 2022 and twenty billion by 2027, thus helping to move away from dependence on Russia gas), working toward trade and investment agreements, fighting terrorism, providing a base of operations for the American invasion of Afghanistan (formerly), being strategically placed to help meet foreign policy goals and weaken Russian and Iranian influence in the region (the country borders both Russia and Iran), and acting as the “gateway” to the Middle Corridor trade route that connects Europe with China (through Central Asia) and bypasses Russia (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route, or TITR). We would not want to upset this relationship.

In addition, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the State Department’s Office of the Coordinator of U.S. Assistance to Europe and Eurasia (EUR/ACE) provide millions of dollars each year ($1.5 billion from 1992 to 2020) to assist with “improving the democratic and economic prospects of the Azerbaijani people” (on top of the $6.6 million in COVID-19 aid). In fact, ACE spends almost $10 million per year to prop up the governance in Baku, stimulate the Azerbaijani economy, build up the election infrastructure, promote women’s rights, and invest in the media (USAID spends an additional almost $5 million per year to help improve the education and career paths of women and to stabilize the fragile government and bribe it into “democracy”). The United States government is heavily invested in Azerbaijan, so when the Caucasus Mountains country invades its weaker neighbor, it can be given a pass. After all, the United States picks and chooses which countries are allowed to invade and which ones should be stopped from doing so. 

Plus, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member Turkey is allied with Azerbaijan, and Russia is allied with Armenia. Since the Azerbaijani invasion hurts Russia, why would the Biden administration want to act? Democratic principles get thrown right out the door when there is a strategic geopolitical goal at stake. Therefore, when we hear President Biden or his officials go on rants about how Russia threatens democracy and needs to be stopped, just know that it has nothing to do with the well-being of the Ukrainians or Europeans. There is always some other underlying reason as to why the United States would be spending billions of dollars in aid to that country while Americans struggle at home. The Biden administration is currently funding Ukraine to resist the invasion from Russia while simultaneously funding (indirectly) the Azerbaijani destruction of the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Republic of Artsakh has surrendered its forces and is now in the process of disassembling its government and being absorbed into Azerbaijan after thirty years of independence (but if this were the semiconductor-producing Taiwan, American forces would be there in a heartbeat). As of October 2, 100,514 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh (recent reports put the number closer to the entire population of 120,000 leaving for Armenia), fearing political consequences from Baku, lack of supplies, and human rights violations. This displacement is clearly another genocide against Armenians (the first being the Ottoman Empire’s Turkish genocide against ethnic Armenians during World War I). Again, the United States government finds genocide acceptable, as long as the correct country is engaging in it, and it is doubtful that the Biden administration will risk its partnership with Azerbaijan and cut off aid.

Nagorno-Karabakh was established as an autonomous region within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic in 1923, but because the newly-created oblast intended to break away from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, fighting began that has lasted one hundred years. During the fall of the Soviet Union, Nagorno-Karabakh declared independence along with Armenia and Azerbaijan, but the latter was not happy with that decision and waged the First Nagorno-Karabakh War. Armenia ended up winning control of the region by 1993 (along with other nearby territory), and in 1994, Russia negotiated a deal (Bishkek Protocol) to allow the ethnic Armenian enclave to be a semi-dependent nation of Armenia but without officially being part of it.

In 2016, new clashes erupted between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the territory, and in 2017, the people of Nagorno-Karabakh decided to have a fully presidential government (naming itself the Republic of Artsakh). By 2020, more cross-border bombings evolved into an Azerbaijani campaign to recapture land (the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War). Russia negotiated another deal that allowed Azerbaijan to regain some lost territory from the first war, but it created the Lachin Corridor (a route connecting Nagorno-Karabakh with Armenia), which was to be patrolled by Russian peacekeepers.

In 2022, clashes and shelling between Turkish-backed Azerbaijan and Armenia began again. Russia, being distracted by its unjust efforts in Ukraine, has failed to prevent the destruction of the Republic of Artsakh or provide assistance to Armenia. In addition to winning control militarily, Azerbaijan had imposed a blockade against Nagorno-Karabakh, and environmental activists, with military support from Baku (Azerbaijan claimed that Armenia was sending military supplies and weapons to Nagorno-Karabakh), took control of and occupied the Lachin Corridor, thus cutting off the region from Armenian assistance (including food and medical supplies and assistance from the Red Cross, and this led to civilian deaths). Azerbaijan finally agreed, after peace deal attempts by Russia and the United States, to open the corridor and allow aid to flow through again, however, on that same day (September 19), Azerbaijan launched an invasion and captured the entire Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Although a few American officials, such as President Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi (formerly), Samantha Power, Adam Schiff, Bob Menendez, Marco Rubio, and others pretend that they care about the plight of the Armenians and have condemned the attacks and pledged $11.5 million to clean up the humanitarian disaster (just throw more money at the problem instead of trying to fix it); the fact of the matter is that the United States helped to fund the Azerbaijani genocide. There is no getting around that fact. At the end of the day, we must acknowledge that the United States government gives a free pass to its allies to commit genocide or invade weaker nations (in this case, the Republic of Artsakh), and at the same time, it will condemn its enemies for doing the exact same type of thing. Anyone who studies American foreign policy understands the hypocrisies, but this is another blatant example.

It is astounding that during the last year and a half, we have heard nothing but how evil Russia is for invading Ukraine, and although the invasion is unjustified, I do not see Americans flying the Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenian flags or displaying them in their social media profile pictures like they did with Ukraine. It seems as if Americans have been conditioned to hate their enemies with nationalistic fervor and to ignore their own government’s atrocities. Artsakh, Donetsk, Luhansk, Crimea, Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia are not permitted to decide their own form of government or what jurisdiction they fall under because it might bolster Russia; but Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Sudan, Kosovo, and Bosnia can be stripped away from their respective nations. The will of the people should not only apply to satisfy the desires of a geopolitical bully. The United States government needs to immediately halt foreign aid to countries that commit heinous acts against human rights.

Thank you for reading, and please check out my book, The Global Bully, and website.