Conducted By Rebecca Yergin

Anne Derse is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. She was confirmed as Ambassador to the Republic of Azerbaijan in May 2006. Before her post in Baku, she served as Minister Counselor for Economic Affairs at the U.S.’s recently established embassy in Baghdad. 

Although Azerbaijan is your first posting as ambassador, you have represented the United States in Singapore, Korea, the Philippines, Belgium, and most recently Iraq. What preparations did you make before arriving in Baku, and what experiences from previous posts have you been able to draw upon since your arrival?

From my point of view, Azerbaijan is just about the most perfect place that I could have been offered to serve as U.S. ambassador given my background. Azerbaijan, traditionally, has been an historic crossroads between Asia and Europe, and you see that reflected in the society and in the history very clearly. My experience in Asia—in Singapore, Korea, and the Philippines—and then in Brussels for six years brings together the two traditions that exist side by side in Azerbaijan.

If you have read the novel Ali and Nino, you know that at the beginning of the novel there is a very famous debate at a boys’ school over whether Azerbaijan is a European nation or an Asian nation. This has traditionally been a long-standing theme in Azerbaijan’s history and society, and I see elements of both worlds in the work I do here and in the culture of the country. And then, of course, it’s a majority-Muslim country. The year I spent in Iraq helped me very much to understand the Muslim world and the perspectives that that brings to Azerbaijan’s current circumstances.

I have not served before in the post-Soviet world, so before coming out I studied the history of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the seventy years Azerbaijan was under Soviet rule—what that meant, what that brought to people’s thinking and to the governmental structures here, and how they are relating that to the modern world and to independence.

I also have a lot of economic experience. A key part of Azerbaijan’s future is how they manage their oil wealth. With the commissioning of the Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan pipeline last July, they are beginning to realize in a major way the revenues that will ramp up for the next ten years—$250 billion or more. How they handle that wealth will be a key determinant of Azerbaijan’s future. If they can manage the money wisely, it can help develop the non-oil sector, raise standards of living, and help Azerbaijan assure its independence and security. But if it is not managed well, it can contribute to worsening a legacy of corruption that many of the former Soviet countries experience. It can also create strong inflation. It can undercut the development of the non-oil sectors. So having economic experience has proved very valuable.

Democracy promotion is at the forefront of the United States’ current agenda around the world. Is this goal compatible with the U.S.’ military, economic, and energy interests in Azerbaijan, as previously discussed? As ambassador, what would you say is the highest priority of the U.S. in this Southern Caucasus country?

Democracy promotion is not only compatible with other U.S. interests in Azerbaijan, it is an essential component of our bilateral relationship.

You correctly identified the major areas in which we engage with Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan is a key part of the global war on terror; they have troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kosovo. Many people don’t know this, but Azerbaijan was one of the very first countries to call us after 9/11 and offer support and assistance. Security is a key element of our relationship.

We also help the Azerbaijanis with their NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan process, with implementing Caspian maritime security. Energy security is something we talked about before. Azerbaijan is already a key player in the global oil markets and has the potential to be a major partner on gas.

Democracy is the third big element. When we say democracy, I mean political and economic reform to assure the basic freedoms that we believe as Americans all peoples are entitled to. This area is more difficult because we are working with a country that experienced Soviet rule for seventy years and faces many of the problems that other Soviet states faced. But the United States promotes democracy in Azerbaijan and in the world for two reasons. One is a matter of principle because we believe, and our national experience has shown us, that democracy is the best guarantor of the fundamental human freedoms that we believe all human beings should enjoy. But we also promote democracy as a matter of interest. Our national experience has shown us that the best partners over the long-run in the world are stable, representative democracies that respect human rights. So, it is a matter of interest in a country like Azerbaijan—where we share important security interests, where we share important energy interests—that we also work closely with them to help them along the path of political and economic reform. Over time it will make Azerbaijan a better and closer partner.

The good news is that Azerbaijan has chosen a Western orientation, a democratic path. Their national policy is to integrate into Euro-Atlantic structures and develop as a market-oriented democracy in this part of the world. Azerbaijan has illustrated that commitment by its undertakings to the Council of Europe, to the EU, to the OSCE, to NATO, and in bilateral relationships, such as our own. We have a bilateral dialogue on democracy, as we do on energy, on security, and on economic reform. We work with Azerbaijan both diplomatically and programmatically, the latter through technical assistance programs to help develop the institutions of democracy.

It isn’t just political reform either, in my view—economic reform is a key part. It is an essential part of democratic development because in many countries with a Soviet past you have a strong legacy of corruption and non-market structures. Economic reform, such as pursuing accession to the WTO, helps countries like Azerbaijan to develop the institutions, regulations, and legal structures of a market economy, which helps to overcome that legacy. It helps to introduce transparency, which helps to tackle corruption and opens doors to foreign investment, which brings in American companies, for example, which have different business ethics and can help the country develop the foundation necessary for a strong democracy in the future. For those reasons, economic reform is a key part of democracy promotion as well.

The U.S. works very actively with Azerbaijan across five key areas in terms of promoting democracy:

We work to build the rule of law and to fight corruption;

We work to build respect for human rights;

We work to develop media freedom.

We work to develop both the conditions for an independent media to thrive and grow and have the political space to develop. We also work with the press itself to develop its standards of professionalism and ethics.

We work to help develop an educated, empowered, and engaged citizenry by supporting an active civil society of NGOs, strong local governance, and a good understanding on the part of the population of what is democracy, what are their rights, what are their responsibilities as a citizen in democracy. These things are second nature, perhaps, to Americans, to people living in established democracies. They’re not second nature, necessarily, to people here. We work a lot through our technical assistance programs to help develop a strong civil society.

And the fifth area is helping to develop a strong political process, by which we mean helping the parliament of Azerbaijan to develop as a truly independent and strong legislative branch of the government. We mean helping Azerbaijan meet its commitment to the OSCE and COE with respect to the conduct of elections, to have free and fair elections. We mean helping political parties to develop. It is important to recognize that in our assistance programs in all these areas, particularly in the areas of elections and political process, the U.S. does not support any particular party or politician. Instead we support the development of the processes and institutions of democracy.

Local governance also falls in this area because, frankly, democracy is most vibrant at the grassroots, and it is important that people see democracy working in their hometowns and villages and be active in citizen councils in order to understand how it all works at the national level. So we work hard to develop local governance.

In talking about democracy promotion in Azerbaijan, I did not just talk about elections. Elections are one key part of developing democracy, but that’s only one part. All the other elements need to be there in order to have a truly strong, thriving democracy. President Bush has said that the United States understands that countries don’t become democracies over night. It requires work, it requires evolution, and it requires transition. What is important to us is to see continued commitment and steady progress towards those goals. And that is what we strive for in our engagement with Azerbaijan.

While over 90 percent of Azerbaijan’s population is Muslim, the country generally identifies itself as a secular state. What role does religion play in Azerbaijani society, and is fundamentalism on the rise?

You see a very healthy trend in Azerbaijan, in my view, of people rediscovering their religion after years of repression under Soviet rule. In the fifteen years since independence, people have started to explore their Muslim roots again. That’s a positive thing, and it’s a different thing than religious fundamentalism.

One of the questions in a country such as Azerbaijan where people are starting to rediscover their Muslim past is who is informing their thinking? Who are the religious leaders? Where are they getting their information? And I think there is a great need and a great interest in Azerbaijan, particularly on the part of young people, in understanding Islam better. As I said, that’s a positive trend.

There are many different forms of Islam. In the United States we have traditions of modern Islam that I think are very strong, very good traditions. And we’re trying to build the links between Muslim groups here, particularly young people, and Muslim groups in the United States, so that they can share thoughts on modern forms of Islam.

There are other forms that are less modern, and those influences do exist in Azerbaijan as well. I think that people here, if given the choice and given a wide range of information, view their country as a secular country. I believe Azerbaijanis want to preserve that; even religiously observant Azerbaijanis are very committed to their secular traditions.

So, I think there is important work to be done by Azerbaijan’s partners in helping its people connect to a broader world of Islamic thought that is a modern form of Islam.

Iran poses many challenges to the international community—especially to Azerbaijan, its northern neighbor. While Iran is commonly thought of as a Persian nation, almost a quarter of its population is ethnically Azeri. How does Baku manage its relationship with Tehran, and how do these ties affect the U.S.-Azerbaijan relationship?

Azerbaijan has traditionally been very astute and very successful in managing its relationships with large partners, including large neighbors and large partners like the United States. Azerbaijan can’t change its geography, and so they need to work as constructively as possible with neighbors, and that is their basic position vis-à-vis Iran. They will work constructively in their national interest, preserving their independence, security, and stability.
But, for Azerbaijan, independence is also very important, and they make a point of instituting policies that allow them to preserve their independence while managing relations with their neighbors—both north and south—very effectively. Azerbaijan supports the international community’s efforts to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapons program because for Azerbaijan a nuclear-armed Iran is a threat. They are working actively to implement Security Council resolutions.

At the same time, they point out that because of the ethnic Azeri community there, a military option would be the last that they would choose. The United States says the same, by the way. Our policy is that we are pursuing a diplomatic path, and we seek a peaceful solution. We are trying to find ways to convince Iran that it is in the interest of the Iranian people to pursue a peaceful path and accept the proposal of assistance that the United States and other international partners put forward last year.

So Azerbaijan basically has, I think, a constructive approach to managing what could be a very difficult relationship, and they have done it reasonably successfully.

The recent opening of the Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyhan Pipeline, a project that transports oil from the Caspian to the Mediterranean, is an important boost to global energy security. What role do you see Azerbaijan playing in the future of energy security for itself, the United States, and the world at large?

Azerbaijan makes a significant contribution now with the Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyhan Pipeline to global oil markets. That pipeline will ship up to a million barrels a day when it reaches full capacity sometime next year; that is a significant contribution to global oil markets. Looking to the future, Azerbaijan is also potentially a major producer of gas and a key lynchpin in a transit corridor that would bring Caspian gas from possibly Turkmenistan, maybe Kazakhstan, west to Europe. The United States currently doesn’t buy any gas or oil from Azerbaijan, as far as I know. But we are interested in the gas project. The U.S. policy has traditionally been to diversify sources of energy supply—gas or oil—and make energy markets competitive. Market-based and transparent is our fundamental policy. And more needs to be done with respect to meeting the gas needs in Europe. Right now Russia is the dominant supplier and will remain so for years to come. They provide a huge amount of gas to Europe, but it’s in everyone’s interest to have diversified sources of supply. Azerbaijan, as I said, is still exploring what its potential gas production may be. But they could produce a significant amount of gas over the next ten to twenty-five years. That could make them a good alternative for Europe. That is also in keeping with U.S. policy—to have more diversified energy markets.

The struggle between Azerbaijan and its neighbor Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh is an issue that has caused much bloodshed for many years. Fighting continues sporadically, damaging relations between the two countries. While the United States is currently working to strengthen its ties to Azerbaijan, it also has close ties to Armenia. What is the U.S.’ official position on the issue in light of its close ties to both countries?

The United States’ official position on the conflict is that we seek to promote and facilitate a peaceful, mutually-acceptable, negotiated solution. We believe that a return to violence here would be a tragedy for both sides. It would set back regional cooperation and development significantly. We work as a formal mediator, as one of the co-chairs of the Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, along with Russia and France, to encourage both sides to narrow their differences on the issues that stand in the way of a solution. The Minsk Group has made progress working with both sides over the past year in elaborating a set of principles that could become the basis for a final negotiated solution.

Ultimately, it is going to be up to the two sides to decide to bring this solution to a conclusion and to work hard with their domestic publics to help them understand the outcome. Our basic policy is to work very actively through the Minsk Group to secure a peaceful, mutually acceptable, and negotiated solution to the conflict.

In June, President Vladimir Putin proposed to the United States to share data from an anti-missile radar station in Qabala, Azerbaijan, as an alternative to the United States’ deploying elements of a missile defense system on Poland and the Czech Republic. What is the current state of this proposal?

In the interest of protecting our national security and that of our friends and allies, the U.S. has proposed to deploy ten missile interceptors in Poland and the radar to support those receptors in the Czech Republic. We believe that this missile defense system, which is relatively modest if you look at it, is very important to protect us from threats that could come from the Middle East or North Korea. We have looked at the technical possibilities. Placing these interceptors in Poland with a radar to support them in the Czech Republic—and possibly another radar somewhere else to help support the system—is something we need to do. We have talked to the Russians about this for years now, at various levels. We have explained why we’re doing it and why it is important to national security. We have offered to cooperate and work with Russia in a constructive way and even have them participate in some fashion in this system. That continues to be our policy. We would like the Russians to work with us, constructively.

When the Russians made the proposal that there might possibly be some value in cooperating in Azerbaijan vis-à-vis the radar station here, President Bush welcomed the fact that Russia had recognized that there is, in fact, a need—that there is, in fact, a threat from Iran—and that we need to work to counter it. We welcome the fact that Russia was offering to cooperate because we have been talking to them for some time now about our willingness to do that.

We will see how this proposal develops in the coming weeks and months. Of course, the Qabala radar station belongs to Azerbaijan; it is only leased by Russia. For any arrangements we make, we will need to have full consultations with our Azerbaijani partners as well.

How is it to be a woman in a field traditionally dominated by men?

In the twenty-five years I have been in the Foreign Service, it has never been an issue. Wherever I have gone, people engage me as an American official; whether I am male or female doesn’t seem to make a difference. Fundamentally, in this field, as in every other, it is whether you can do the job or not that determines how people interact with you. That is how it has been in Azerbaijan, and, if anything, it has been an advantage to be the first woman American ambassador here because people are curious. It has given me a chance to engage with the public here in a way because they were interested, and I have found that I have a very good dialogue with the public in Azerbaijan, as well as the government. An important part of a diplomat’s work is to engage the people of a country as well as to engage the government. So it’s never been as issue, and maybe it has been something of an advantage.

Although some ambassadors do not know the languages spoken in their posts, you intensively studied Azerbaijani in anticipation of your arrival in Baku. How important is it for ambassadors to know the language of their regions, and what advantages do you think your knowledge of Azerbaijani has afforded you?

It is something I feel very strongly about because I was a linguistics major in college. I have a great deal of interest in languages, personally. But I also think that it is increasingly important for American diplomats to actively engage a country in that country’s own language. Of course, English has become an international language, and it is the language of business and technology. But in terms of actually understanding the people, the society, the culture of a country, there is no substitute for studying the language. It is the key that unlocks the thinking of a country.

In terms of showing interest in truly understanding the way the people of country think, speaking their language is simply the best way to do it. I’ve seen that graphically illustrated here in Azerbaijan. I, unfortunately, only had six weeks of language training before I came here. Azerbaijani, which is like Turkish, is a relatively difficult language. But in those six weeks I learned a lot, enough to be able to give speeches in Azerbaijani. I had to make a decision as I was flying over the Atlantic on my way to take up my new posting. When I got off the plane at the airport, I had to decide whether I was going to deliver my arrival speech in English or in Azerbaijani. As I said, I had only had six weeks of Azerbaijani, so I did not feel wholly confident in my language skills. But I decided this was an important gesture to show the people of Azerbaijan that we, the United States, are sincerely interested in the country. So I gave my first speech here in Azerbaijani. I am sure it wasn’t the greatest speech, but it had the effect I wanted. People noticed that the new American ambassador, upon arriving in the country, took the time and the trouble to make an arrival statement in their language. That has resonated in my time here. It reinforced my commitment to continue learning the language. I go into work an hour early to spend an hour with an Azerbaijani teacher almost every day of the week and sometimes on weekends in order to perfect my language skills. I made it a policy to give all my speeches in Azerbaijani. I read a text because it is still difficult for me speak off the cuff in the language, but I am getting better at it. But I can certainly read a speech, and that way I don’t have to go through a translator when I want to deliver an important message, a policy or a cultural message; I can deliver it directly.

I am very pleased to see that some of my colleagues at the embassy are beginning to do the same thing. My Deputy Chief of Mission gives his speeches in Azerbaijani, and my defense attaché and my USAID director have started as well. The people of Azerbaijan have noticed this. They have noticed the United States is really making an effort to communicate in their language. There really is no substitute, and in an ideal world, I would say every ambassador should be equipped to speak the language of the country in which they serve. So I encourage students to learn foreign languages.

How would you characterize the way in which Azerbaijan’s media portrays the United States?

It depends what part of the media, first of all. In Azerbaijan you have opposition media, you have government media, and you have a sort of in-the-middle, independent media. I think that generally the views of the U.S.—of the nation, of our culture, of our society, and of our people—are very positive.

There is, from time to time, criticism of our policies. That happens everywhere, and it is part of my job to help people understand our policies. But the country is basically pro-Western and pro-American, and so I find the public discussion of our policies, even when critical, to be a reasonable debate and reasonable questions about our policies. Part of a diplomat’s job is to engage with people who don’t understand or don’t support us. In fact, that is probably the most important part of our job—to work with people who don’t understand or support us and to perhaps gain their understanding and support for our policies.

How would you characterize the way in which Azeri youth perceive their peers in the United States and vice versa? What occasions are there for cultural exchange, and what do you think American students can and should learn from the students of Azerbaijan?

Thank you very much for highlighting that issue. In addition to the all the important policy areas where we work with Azerbaijan—on democracy, on security, on energy—another very important objective for me is to strengthen considerably the people-to-people ties between our countries because, fundamentally, those ties underlie strong relations between governments, and I believe there is significant scope to do a lot more in terms of building those ties.

There is a huge interest on the part of young people here to better understand the United States, to engage with Americans of all levels and ranks. Young students here are very happy to engage with me, but I know that they would really welcome the chance to have direct contact and interaction with American students as well. There is a thirst and hunger for knowledge about the United States. I think in many respects the U.S. is a great curiosity. What is democracy really all about? What is the life of a young person in the U.S. really all about? In Azerbaijan, as in many parts of the world, sometimes the only things that are coming through about America are what you see on the television or movies, and that can sometimes present a skewed view of the United States.

So I am very interested in trying to build stronger contacts. We have a lot of exchange programs that send Azerbaijani students to the U.S. to study, but I don’t see many American students coming this way. I think that many American students would find it fascinating to be in this country because it is relatively little known. But it is a hugely strategic part of the world, and it is a country where we share many important interests. It is a country that, because of its great oil wealth, is going to have a significant role in the future, politically and economically, if they manage the wealth wisely. So it is a country worth learning more about, and it is a country that is very open to engaging with and learning more about America.

We talked before about Islam. There is a lot of interest on the part of young people here in learning more about their religion and Islam, and I’d like to encourage American students—Muslim students—to think about engaging actively through youth groups or through Muslim organizations with their counterparts in Azerbaijan. I think that could contribute very positively to our relationship and to Azerbaijan’s development as a secular Muslim democracy.

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