Lately I’ve seen a number of news reports about growing cooperation between Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan. For some examples, check out: http://www.azernews.az/business/62477.html; http://www.arabnews.com/news/491231;
Basically, from what I can gather, the cooperation is mostly economic, focusing on the energy sector. According to these articles, Saudi Arabia is incereasing its investment in the Azeri oil industry. Additionally, a Saudi official stated that they want to expand cooperation in “social” sphere (see: http://en.trend.az/capital/business/2220080.html).
I found this interesting, in the context of the regional competition between Iran and the KSA. Economic cooperation opens a door of the Saudis here in Azerbaijan, and will allow for stronger relations between Iran’s Shi’a-majority, norther neighbor and its largest regional rival. What, if anything, this growing cooperation means remains to be seen, of course. It may very well be a purely moneterily-motivated move on part of both nations, but the potential political implications are difficult to ignore. It’s also interesting for me, as someone who is curious about Azerbaijan’s relations with the Arab world. Regardless of politics, since both countries are major oil suppliers, examining the depth and meaning of their economic cooperation is an important enveavor.
Although this was just a passing thought I had during my daily news reading ritual, I realized it is also an interesting topic to pursue. I have made a brief attempt to research Azeri-Saudi relations, but have not turned up anything significant, so I intent to continue to pursue the matter. Hopefully I will be able to write a more developed piece based on what I am able to find.
South of Russia, North of Iran 