US military paper: Repealing 907th Section to benefit US Stephen Blank on TRIPP and Azerbaijan’s importance

The US Department of War newspaper Stars and Stripes has published an article on the importance of finally repealing Section 907 of the Freedom Support Act, which prohibits providing assistance to Azerbaijan. Caliber.Az highlights the most significant parts of this article. 

Editor's note: The piece's author is Stephen Blank, a Senior Fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.

A long-standing truism is that legislation should support national interests and the strategies needed to implement them. This precept now possesses special relevance for Washington’s position in the Caucasus. One of the most audacious and far-reaching initiatives of the Trump administration is the Trump Road for International Peace and Prosperity in the Caucasus (TRIPP). At a single stroke, it has brought a virtual end to 30 years of Armenian-Azerbaijani hostilities, forging a trade, transport and connectivity route that brings Azerbaijan and, beyond it, Central Asia to Europe and the West, while underscoring the administration’s new commitment to an expanded and enduring presence in the Caucasus.

If this geopolitical masterstroke is to realise its purpose of pacifying former belligerents, opening vast new vistas for international trade, and ensuring a long-term American presence, the U.S. Congress must sustain it through appropriate legislation for the long term. This means repealing Section 907 of the 1992 Foreign Support Act, which bars the U.S. government from giving Azerbaijan most forms of inter-governmental aid and assistance. Although the president has the authority to waive this section, as long as it remains on the books, it restricts American power, policy and influence in the Caucasus. It is a legislative relic from a prior generation, when Armenia and Azerbaijan were at war and the Armenian diaspora in America used its influence  the Armenian diaspora in America used its influence to get it passed.

Those days are over. Armenia and Azerbaijan have signed a peace declaration. Now is the time for congressional legislation to duly strengthen the U.S. influence and presence in Central Asia. Preserving Section 907’s restrictions only impedes the ability of America’s diplomats and business leaders to work with Azerbaijan, which has become a beacon of independence against Russian and Iranian threats. Moreover, Azerbaijan has also become a major player in and conveyor of trade from Central Asia to Europe by virtue of its geographical location. Since Central Asian governments clearly seek an enhanced relationship with Washington, as demonstrated by the impending meeting of all their presidents with President Donald Trump (C5+1), U.S. legislation should facilitate rather than obstruct national interest and strategy.

However important ties to the U.S. are for Central Asia, connections to these resource-rich states are steadily rising in importance for America as well. To give one example, the United States depends far too much on Russian uranium sales despite the extensive sanctions Washington has imposed on Russia due to the war against Ukraine. It would benefit the U.S. and Kazakhstan if there was a mutual relationship whereby the Kazakhs could ship uranium to America using TRIPP.

Another example is rare earths. China strategically dominates the mining and refining of rare earths. Diversifying America’s sources of these strategic minerals through a combination of friend-shoring and home-shoring is clearly the next step. Central Asia possesses abundant stocks of these commodities and clearly does not want to subordinate itself either to China or Russia in this sector.

Trump seeks investment and trade opportunities for U.S.-based companies in the region. Meanwhile, Central Asian leaders want to expand cooperation with Washington regarding the surveying, mining, processing and export of rare earths and other critical minerals, demonstrating a mutuality of interests.

In this context, failing to show U.S. support for Azerbaijan’s regional influence in both the Caucasus and Central Asia by preserving outdated legislation and not supporting the requirements in support of America's strategic interests seems senseless, as rare earths and other key commodities must traverse the TRIPP to reach Western markets. Neither does it demonstrate to U.S. adversaries, China, Russia, and Iran, all of whom are trying to subject Azerbaijan to their interests, that the United States is firm in its resolve to support a state that wants a partnership with Washington, has considerable strength of its own, and at the same time contributes to our critical strategic interests in the Middle East through its ties with Israel, the Caucasus and Central Asia.

Meanwhile, China is using its economic power and connections to try to increase its influence over Baku, as demonstrated by the recent sale of Chinese-Pakistani JF-17 fighters to Baku via Islamabad. As Kamran Bokhari, senior director at the New Lines Institute for Strategy & Policy observes, there is no reason why U.S. companies should be barred from such sales. Thus, thanks to the innovative TRIPP initiative, it is possible to promote U.S. interests in a multitude of increasingly important and potentially critical arenas. To do so, it is necessary to recognise the altered and emerging strategic landscape in the Caucasus and Central Asia and the opportunities this offers to America. To embed the TRIPP in the regional context and advance U.S. interests, it also is essential that Congress act to advance those interests rather than retard them. Repealing Section 907 is the right move at the right time, and the benefits of doing so will be immense.