Azerbaijan could supplement mediation efforts in Middle East process: expert on Palestine

Day.Az interview with professor of political science and international relations at George Washington University, expert on Palestine and the Middle East process Nathan Brown.

Day.Az: The Azerbaijani authorities have recently declared their readiness to become a Middle East mediator. Can this mediation be useful?

Nathan Brown: It may be a role of a limited nature. There are several dimensions to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Israel and half of the Palestinian Authority headed by Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah have a direct contact, as well as a contact through the United States and the Quartet.

Israel and half of the Palestinian Authority run by Hamas in the Gaza Strip need intermediaries, but it seems they do not want them. Egypt and Germany acted as intermediaries due to certain limited problems. Israel and Syria are in need of intermediaries given their interest in achieving peace through negotiations.

However, there are also several alternative candidates (including France and Turkey). Finally, the two halves of the Palestinian Authority need intermediaries, but Egypt has played the role played by Saudi Arabia and Qatar previously.

Azerbaijan’s mediation could complement some of these efforts, but, apparently, it can not replace them.

Q: Can Azerbaijan's support to establish an independent Palestinian state influence Azerbaijani-Israeli relations?

A: No. It can not. Even Netanyahu's right-wing government withdrew all objections to the principle of a Palestinian state. Their vision of a state has become so limited that there is no question about the true state, but this assumes that the whole idea of statehood is not an obstacle. Most of the closest allies of Israel (including the U.S.) support Palestinian statehood.

Q: Azerbaijan and Palestine have reached an agreement on cooperation on settlement of the Middle East and Nagorno-Karabakh conflicts in international organizations. What is the reason for non-compliance with the UN Security Council resolutions adopted on these conflicts so far?

A: Implementation of the UN decisions depend on diplomacy and the diplomacy pursued by the United States is not enough. For example, the "road map" reaffirmed by the UN Security Council remains largely unfulfilled.

Q: Do you believe it is possible to solve the "Iranian problem" through diplomatic channels, or the U.S. military intervention in Iran is most likely to happen?

A: I hope that the issue will be resolved by political means. The Obama Administration is less likely to wage a war while the increase in tension and confrontation is quite possible.

Day.Az