To really appreciate the issues facing Azerbaijan and other countries in the region...look at a map of this area and note the other residents of the neighborhood...Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Tukmenistan, Russia...tough neighborhood....yet, just like in the Middle East...the resources (oil and natural gas reserves) make the land vital to the interest of Europe...in fact, there is a huge power struggle going on as to which country will sell natural gas to the European market, Italy, Greece, Germany, ...even England ....all those countries that have no reserves and aren't willing to develop nuclear power the way the French have. Russia wants to sell gas and partner with Azerbaijan but the Azeris would rather partner with the US, Turkey and Italy to develop a pipeline...alas, the Azeri president doesn't want to piss off Russia...or Iran.
It's fascinating to say the least and it's very easy to see how as Americans we don't necessarily think twice about these issues...but our appetite for fossil fuel needs to come from somewhere....but the photo shows you what the land looks like once it's been drained of its oil..there are miles and miles of the country that look like this...doesn't matter that GM fell so far so fast....we're not going to have fuel one day....damn...and I really miss driving my Land Rover...
Americans, we are full of contradictions...don't you just love it...hope everyone is well.
J
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