Yorktown Institute: Trump can expand Abraham Accords to Azerbaijan, Central Asia
US President Donald Trump has a unique opportunity to reshape the strategic landscape of the Middle East and Eurasia by expanding the Abraham Accords to include Azerbaijan and key Central Asian nations, experts at the Washington-based Yorktown Institute stated.
In a recent article for The Wall Street Journal, Seth Cropsey, president of the Yorktown Institute, and Joseph Epstein, director of the Turan Research Center and a senior fellow at the institute, argue that this strategic enlargement could offer significant geopolitical dividends.
"Now, Mr. Trump has an opportunity to reshape the Middle East and Eurasia by expanding the Abraham Accords to include Azerbaijan and Central Asian nations such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan," the authors write. "A strategic enlargement of the accords would counter adversaries, diversify supply chains, and build a bloc of moderate, pro-Western Muslim-majority nations aligned with the US and Israel. It would also showcase Israeli outreach, helping counter the anti-Israel global narrative."
Cropsey and Epstein identify Azerbaijan as the linchpin for this expansion. "Azerbaijan is positioned to anchor this expansion. It bridges the Caucasus and Central Asia geographically and has facilitated Israeli-Muslim engagement for years. Baku has mediated between Türkiye and Israel during the countries’ many rifts. But Azerbaijan also hosted discreet meetings between Israeli and Gulf officials before the signing of the Abraham Accords".
The authors further assert that recent geopolitical shifts have created an opening for deeper regional cooperation. "The same vulnerabilities that enabled peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Iran’s retreat and Russia’s decline, have created an opening for regional transformation," they note.
"The Abraham Accords offer the foundation for a powerful new bloc: economically connected to the US and Israel, tolerant at home and resilient abroad. An expanded Abraham Accords would signal to the West that the US is engaging in transformative diplomacy—a reality that should be embraced, not resisted."
By Vafa Guliyeva