By Ogul Tuna The Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington

Azerbaijan’s biggest trade partners in the region, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, have shared economic interests in establishing new trade links, but they also share common threat perceptions regarding Iran and radicalism.

At the crossroads of east-west and south-north transit routes, Azerbaijan has seen its geopolitical importance increasing since the end of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war. With the war’s end, Azerbaijan regained control over disputed territories from Armenia, and it has since started implementing economic transformation policies, following the example of nearby Gulf Arab countries. Azerbaijan’s biggest trade partners in the region, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have shared economic interests in establishing new trade links, but they also share common threat perceptions regarding Iran and radicalism.

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