
"Nagorno-Karabakh is not a priority for the US administration. The U.S. will continue to support the Minsk Group process, but will not invest significant political or diplomatic capital into a resolution," said American analyst on the ethnic conflicts and international relations Thomas Ambrosio, director of the International Studies Major of North Dakota State University.
Mr. Ambrosio believes that, the current US-Azerbaijani relations may be explained less by diplomacy than an attempt to be the ’un-Bush’ and reverse Bush-era policies: since Azerbaijan was an integral part of the Bush administration’s vision for the region and a close ally, Obama is far cooler to Baku.
“However, this tendency will likely weaken over time as geopolitics and American interests increasingly come to the fore of the administration’s thinking. Nevertheless, one should understand that the Obama administration has desire for a better relationship with Russia,” - he stated.
Speaking about the US Administration’s position on the so-called Armenian “genocide” issue, the analyst mentioned that, the last statement used by Obama on April 24th, appears to be an attempt to have it both ways: not anger the Turks and make the Armenians happy.
“I do not feel that it will have a positive impact on the negotiations -- ultimately, the positions of the conflicting sides (Ankara-Yerevan and Baku-Yerevan) are pretty well set and a statement of this sort will not change that. However, had he used the term ’genocide’, then it is likely that the position of Turkey would have hardened, thus having a negative impact on the negotiations,” he added.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ambrosio also added that, it is in American interests to promote dialogue and the peaceful resolution to the conflicts. He thinks the better question is whether the U.S. is going to make it a priority.
"Initially, it appeared to be the case with Secretary Clinton’s personal intervention in striking the initial Ankara-Yerevan deal. However, there appears to be little movement from the Obama administration as other, more pressing, issues come to the surface, such as Iran and the domestic problems within the U.S. itself," said analyst.
/APA/