Earlier this month, the map of Europe was redrawn yet again.
This time, the cartographer-in-chief was neither Putin (Ukraine) nor NATO (Kosovo), but the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev. For years, geographers had wondered where to place his little country on the shores of the Caspian Sea. Was it still in Europe? Or was it already in Central Asia?
The question was always primarily political, not geographical. Was oil-rich Azerbaijan ‘transitioning’ towards democracy, like its neighbor Georgia, to eventually become part of the European family? Or was it turning into a family-run fiefdom like the Stans further east?
For years, …read more
Source: The Huffington Post
