Caspian Watch # 5: Senator Byrd Takes the Lead in Securing U.S. Access To 200 Billion Barrels of Oil in the Caspian Sea

(Washington, D.C.): An important
turning point may have been reached last
week with regard to American policy
toward the largest energy play of the
21st Century: the unimpeded flow
of oil from the Caspian Sea to
international markets. At an
international conference on the subject
held in Washington, the essential
ingredient in achieving this
strategically vital objective was
identified by Senator Robert Byrd
(D-WV) and many others — a
robust U.S. relationship with the key
country of the region, Azerbaijan.

This conference, sponsored by the U.S.-Azerbaijan
Chamber of Commerce (USACC),
involved some 300 participants, including
in addition to Senator Byrd: former Secretary
of Defense Dick Cheney, former Assistant
Secretary of Defense Richard Perle,
former Deputy Energy Secretary
William White, U.S.
Ambassador to Azerbaijan Richard
Kauzlarich, Azerbaijan’s
Ambassador to the U.S. Hafiz Pashayev
and the former U.S. mediator on
the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict
Ambassador John Maresca.

In an impressive keynote address to
the conference, Senator Byrd analyzed the
high stakes involved in encouraging
Azerbaijan to continue to pursue largely
pro-American strategic and commercial
policies. He also took note of the
debilitating consequences of continuing
the kind of episodic engagement that has
been emblematic of the Clinton
Administration’s approach to the Caspian
Basin to date. (Excerpts
of Sen. Byrd’s speech are attached, as is
an important op.ed.
article on the subject published in
the Washington Times of 20
February 1997 by Dr. S. Rob Sobhani).

The day after the USACC meeting, an
equally distinguished — although
considerably smaller — gathering at a
Heritage Foundation luncheon featured
remarks by Ilham Aliyev, First Vice
President of Azerbaijan’s State Oil
Company (SOCAR) and son of that nation’s
president, Heydar Aliyev. Mr. Aliyev
spoke candidly and eloquently about the
hard realities in his country’s rough
neighborhood, most especially Moscow’s
continuing covetousness toward
Azerbaijani territory and assets. He
stressed the indispensability of American
involvement in Azerbaijan’s efforts to
exploit its energy resources, to achieve
an equitable settlement in the festering
conflict with neighboring Armenia and
otherwise to secure the full potential of
his secular Muslim nation.

The Bottom Line

The Center for Security Policy
welcomes last week’s auspicious
developments concerning U.S.-Azerbaijani
relations. It urges the Clinton
Administration and the Republican-led
Congress to give priority attention to
putting these bilateral ties on a strong,
sustainable footing in support of
long-term American interests in the
Caspian Basin. In that regard, it
recommends adopting the initiatives
identified by Dr. Sobhani as the United
States’ critical next moves in this
region’s unfolding “Great
Game.”