FOREIGN POLICY JOURNAL: INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SHOULD TAKE AZERBAIJAN TO TASK FOR NORTH KOREAN STYLE RHETORIC
10:07 17.04.2013
On April 16, 2013, Foreign Policy Journal published an article by Aram
Avetisyan, Counselor at the Office of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic
in the United States. Named “In Search of Effective Deterrence”,
the publication covers major risks for renewed war in the South Asia
and the South Caucasus.
In both cases, bellicose statements and aggressive rhetoric by regimes
of Kim Jong Un of North Korea and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan pose
the major threat to regional stability and security.
The full text of the article is provided below:
The recent threats of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un about attacks
against the U.S. and its ally South Korea continues to be a source of
global concern. A new wave of aggressive rhetoric elevated tensions to
a high level in the South Asian region, including a risk of nuclear
strikes. Regardless of how serious those threats may be, they do
threaten stability and regional security, leading to escalation and
increasing possibility of war.
The irresponsible and unpredictable North Korean totalitarian regime
continuously uses escalating rhetoric as a political instrument
blackmailing the world. The aggressive rhetoric and threats of new war
have become more pronounced since the young dictator of North Korea,
Kim Jong Un, came to power after the death of his father in 2012.
American and international figures have reacted. U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry called Pyongyang’s threats of military action
against South Korea and the United States “provocative, dangerous and
reckless.” U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (originally from South
Korea) described the North Korean behavior as being on a “collision
course with the international community”. Condemnations came from
many other countries as well.
At the other side of Asia, in Azerbaijan, another dictator who also
inherited power from his father, Ilham Aliev, continuously uses
bellicose rhetoric and threatening to restart a war against its
neighboring Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Aliyev and his regime are
known as one of the most corrupted in the world. Fueled by revenues
from oil production, Aliyev and family have stashed their cash in
the offshore zones.
Like North Korea’s, Azerbaijan’s warmongering should not be
ignored since a new war in the South Caucasus could also turn quite
catastrophic. Taking into consideration the arms build-up launched by
Azerbaijan and its continuing weapons accumulation, a new war could
devastate a whole region and cause dire humanitarian consequences
for all sides of the conflict.
If the international community desires peace and stability in the South
Caucasus, it should take Azerbaijan to task for North Korean style
rhetoric. Azerbaijan’s Aliev should as also stop his hate rhetoric,
and prepare his country for peace by ruling out military solutions and
refraining from threats to use force as urged by the United States and
the rest of international community. Otherwise, while brandishing their
arms, dictators of all kinds will continue to blackmail the world while
seeking to keep their compatriots captive in their dictatorial systems.