Ronald Regan House: U.S. sees Azerbaijan as a critically important state

Azerbaijan's regional stability is directly related to the political consistency of the ruling elite, South Caucasus 2008-2013 analytical report of the Ronald Reagan House said.

Azerbaijan continues to pursue its balancing strategy and being the biggest and wealthiest country of the South Caucasus, Azerbaijan successfully used its energy lever to maintain third party-independent foreign policy, the document read.

"It is plausible to say the country remains on the same political and economic track since 1993 when President Heydar Aliyev came to power," the report said.

The report said that, therefore as Azerbaijan is set for presidential election this year it is more than likely that Ilham Aliyev will secure presidential seat for the third consecutive term.

"Because of energy lever, Azerbaijan was capable to successfully balance the interests of three different powers - the U.S., Russia and Iran," the document read.

The report also said that the U.S. sees Azerbaijan as a critically important state in South Caucasian and tries to pay sufficient attention to the country.

"The latest developments in Azerbaijan's relations with Russia show an intensifying cooperation between the two states. Over the last years Azerbaijan maintained comparatively close relations to the EU," the report said.

According to the report, nevertheless, as the Shah Deniz consortium selected the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) to be implemented in order to supply the South European countries with Azerbaijan's natural gas, there are good prospects for increased partnership between Baku and Brussels.

Armenian-Azerbaijani Nagorno-Karabakh conflict remains the biggest problem for Baku, the report said.