Azerbaijan’s dual foreign policy strategy toward Israel: a realist alliance and a neoliberal knowledge-based economy cooperation, 2011–2022

This paper argues that Azerbaijan’s dual foreign policy strategy toward Israel explains the strengthening of ties between the two states from 2011 to 2022. Most writings usually focus on realist explanations for this process, such as the anti-Iran alliance since the beginning of the 2000s. However, this paper argues that this is a necessary but insufficient explanation and suggests that in 2011, Azerbaijan decided to move to a knowledge-based economy, which encouraged the adoption of a neo-liberal foreign policy alongside a realist one. This new national vision, in turn, brought about the adoption of a dual strategic foreign policy. The process of the states’ strengthening ties since 2011 is in correlation with both strategies and cannot be attributed to either factor alone. This study’s innovative use of a qualitative foreign policy analysis and a quantitative knowledge-based economy analysis may illuminate a new perspective on the strengthening of ties between the Muslim states and Israel.