In 2020, Azerbaijan won back many of the water resources it had lost to Armenians in the 1990s. But the biggest source still eludes it, and farmers are still struggling.
A series of ceasefire violations has led to an unprecedented level of criticism, even as the Armenians of Karabakh still see the peacekeepers as their main guarantor of security.
Prosecutors have begun to file lawsuits based on the country’s new unexplained wealth law, targeting assets from allegedly corrupt former officials. But is the process politicized?
National Guard units in other post-Soviet states, like Russia, have been used to squelch protests. And critics see it as a means for the government to protect its power.
Baku has been reforming its armed forces with a new education system, new weaponry, and a big increase in special forces units. And it is all being modeled after Turkey’s military.