[LINK] "Azerbaijan and Iran in soft-power struggle"

[rfmcdonald]

Over at Eurasianet, parliamentarian and journalist Eldar Mamedov writes about the ongoing to-and-fro between post-Soviet Azerbaijan and its southern neighbour, Iran. The two countries both share numerous close historical ties, not least of which is the presence of something like twenty million Azeris on both sides of the Iranian-Azerbaijani border (of which only a minority actually live in the Azeri nation-state, mind). Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Azerbaijan has served as a vacation destination for Iranians searching for a social liberalism officially proscribed in their own country. These social freedoms are not accompanied by political freedoms, though, and Mamedov warns that political opposition in secular Azerbaijan might take on theocratic overtones.

[O]ne is tempted to ask whether Azerbaijan can again inspire a democratically oriented transformation in Iran. In theory, it has the potential to do so. The Azerbaijani republic was born on the ashes of the Soviet Union with the promise of a democratic, European future.

The fact that most Azerbaijanis are, at least notionally, Shi'ite Muslims and speak the same language as nearly a quarter of the Iranian population should have strengthened Azerbaijan's position as a conduit for democratization. In reality, rather than serving as an inspiration for the democratization of Iran, Azerbaijan itself is becoming increasingly vulnerable to hardline influences originating in the Islamic Republic.

It is true that many Iranians travel to Baku to enjoy the socially liberal atmosphere, where they can do away with the strict Islamic dress code and enjoy an alcoholic drink in a cafe. These are not trivial freedoms for those living under the thumb of an oppressive theocracy. However, Baku's social liberalism is not matched by political liberalism.

Rather to the contrary, looking at Azerbaijan's political evolution, many Iranians can see a familiar pattern unfolding in Baku, one that features the curtailment of rights via the promulgation of repressive laws against non-governmental organizations, arrests of government opponents and the steady effort to restrict freedom of expression.