Since the break-up of the former Soviet Union the central Asian republic has been courted relentlessly by the West. In return for access to their oil fields we've given them semi-official observer status at NATO and pretended not to notice that their practice of democracy has not evolved very much from the single-party Soviet era.
Presumably the delivery of state-of-the-art missiles and missile defense systems to this country on Iran's northern border is intended as a vote of confidence in the Azerbaijan regime. It's also intended as another poke in the eye for Iran. This is where the strategy of assuming that anyone who buys weapons from the West is automatically our "ally" is at serious risk of back-firing.
When the first breezes of Arab Spring wafted over the Urals last March the government wasted no time in ruthlessly snuffing out the voices of opposition. Does that make it a reliable ally? If and when hostilities break out with Iran, in which direction will those missiles be pointed?
Azerbaijan is a Shia Muslim country whose commitment to democracy is tenuous to say the least. While the pro-NATO orientation of the authoritarian government may be reassuring in some circles, the loyalties of the majority of the population would more likely lie with their Shia neighbors in Iran.
On the same day that the Israeli missile deal was announced the government also welcomed an official visit by the Chief of Staff of the Pakistani Armed Forces.
That's another ally we should never be too certain of.
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