MATTHEW BRYZA’S MISSION

The most recent regional visit of Matthew Bryza, Assistant to the Under-Secretary of State on Europe and Eurasia Affairs, became important in a sense that Mr. Bryza officially introduced himself as an Advisor to the US Secretary of State on Energy Issues, instead of acting as a Co-Chair of the OSCE Minsk Group.
Of course, such an astonishing combination of two posts did not prevent M. Bryza from expressing his viewpoints on different issues concerning the countries of the region, including the conflict settlement process.
The first impression deriving from the contents of Mr. Bryza’s statements is that the American diplomacy has started to adopt more considerate approaches with regard to the prospect of settling the South Caucasus conflicts in the near future.
It makes an outstanding optimist like Mr. Bryza to make clarifications in his prior assessments regarding the settlement of the Karabakh conflict. “The fact that we are close to the conflict settlement more than ever doesn’t mean that the issue may be resolved.”
That’s to say, at least till the Presidential elections expected in Armenia and then in Azerbaijan, the parties have to engage themselves only in the discussion of the “interesting ideas” specified by M. Bryza.
It is very easy to note that the American party’s considerate policy is closely connected with the futile attempts aimed at finding an option for mutual concessions in the international-political developments.
As shown by the above-mentioned, the South Caucasus, being a trend of strategic importance for the American foreign policy, has begun to be evaluated from the long-term perspective by the Republican Administration which is ending its term of office. And those perspectives demand that not only the peacekeeping issue but also the issue of clarifying the model of the region’s economic integration be kept at the forefront. In this context, the United States views Armenia as a country gradually integrating to a common economic area, together with Georgia. It is not accidental that Matthew Bryza devoted his first visit to the solution of the problem of diversifying Armenia’s energy potentials. This serves as a basis for materializing the prospect of building a new and safe nuclear power plant in Armenia; and the operation of such a power plant may partially meet Georgia’s needs.
In the meantime, as mentioned by M. Bryza, the United States does not want Armenia to make a choice between the European Union and Russia in this respect. On the contrary, “They must work together here.” It turns out that the United States is trying to somehow establish joint efforts in the sphere of energy among the centers of the power interested in South Caucasus, considering that the sphere has a crucial role for the integration of Armenia and later – the whole region. Within the context of joining the efforts in such a manner, the task of forming an Armenian-Georgian common economic and political area is becoming sketched. This will allow the two economically strengthened countries to conduct a more independent policy in relation to neighbors.
Such independence does not imply a violation of Russia’s economic interests in Armenia; however, it undoubtedly tends to restrict the Armenian-Iranian energy programs which have recently assumed extensive volumes.
Thus, as shown by M. Bryza’s most recent regional visit, the United States is trying to gradually resume the traditional principles of its policy in South Caucasus, i.e. the strengthening of the Western model of economic integration. Simultaneously, transition to a more consistent protection of democratic values is becoming possible for the near future.
Time will show whether these are imposed by the United States programs directed at Iran or by the desire of achieving certain tactical agreements with Russia, or else, whether they mark the beginning of the fundamental changes to be made in our region by the world’s leading superpower.
VARDAN GRIGORYAN

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Headlines for August 01, 2007

MATTHEW BRYZA’S MISSION
VARDAN GRIGORYAN
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