If you thought diplomats had to leave their personalities behind to do their jobs, think again. Elin Suleymanov is Azerbaijan’s current ambassador in the UK. Before that he spent a decade as Baku’s main man in Washington, becoming probably the only ambassador to have appeared on Comedy Central. There’s plenty of humour in this very human yet incisive podcast conversation, but much to think about as Mark asks Elin about “caviar diplomacy,” Armenian detainees and hopes for longer term peace in the Caucasus.

Armenian-American analyst Richard Giragosian is the founder of the Regional Studies Center - an independent geopolitical think tank based in Yerevan. He’s a frequent contributor to global news networks, newspapers and periodicals. Before moving to Armenia a decade and a half ago he had been a staffer in the US congress and a lecturer to the US Special Forces. In this eloquent podcast, Richard suggests that, in the Caucasus, there is a clear window of opportunity for reframing decades of conflict. He gives insights as to how Azerbaijan might better understand Armenian viewpoints and how Armenia itself could benefit from greater diversity.

Though Armenians and Azerbaijanis were often friends and neighbours during the Soviet period, since independence – and the two Karabakh wars – contact between the two peoples has been sadly lacking. And that has made it easy for each side to dehumanize and demonize the other. Whether online or in person, contact and discussion between everyday Azerbaijanis and Armenians could help to slowly reverse this process and bring about the conditions needed for lasting peace. That’s the philosophy behind Bright Garden Voices, whose co-founder, Arnold Alahverdian, joins Mark on this edition of the Caspian Podcast.

Episode 22 | Ramin Jabbarli - researcher and teacher born to an Azerbaijani-Turkish family in Iran by Mark Elliott

Polina Dessiatnichenko (https://polinadessi.com) is a Ukrainian-Canadian ethnomusicologist and player of the 11-stringed tar, an archetypally Caucasian musical instruments typically used to accompany Azerbaijani mugham. In this unique edition of the Caspian Podcast Polina explains with demonstrations various musical motifs with which tar players build up the structure of that Unesco-listed form of very traditional yet partly improvised music. Polina also explains a little about the linkages between mugham and ghazal poetry and reveals that learning these art forms is an all-encompassing spiritual endeavour rather like becoming the devotee of a guru.

If you’ve read her article at caspianpost.com, you might feel that you already know Dr. Darya Hodaei – a Florida-based Azerbaijani-Turk from Iran who is the brains behind the language website EnglishAzerbaijani. On top of her day job as a pharmacist and the pressures of motherhood, she has written three bi-lingual children’s books to promote the Azerbaijani Turkic language and culture. In this podcast we get to know her a little better and hear more about her passion for her native language.

The podcast welcomes back prominent Iran-analyst Alex Vatanka, senior fellow at the Middle Eastern Institute. Alex gives a remarkably insightful explanation of the recent Iran-Azerbaijan spat, the perceived role of Israel in the dispute and the background – both historical and political –predicting that it is highly unlikely that the two countries will push their verbal fisticuffs towards a more physical conflict. He also suggests very practical measures that Tehran could take to radically improve its geopolitical situation, should the country find the will.

John Spencer is the chair of urban warfare studies at MWI (the Modern War Institute) at West Point – America’s top Military Academy. Here he talks about the 2020 2nd Karabakh War and why it has students of military tactics re-thinking the nature of modern warfare. John’s particular interest is the Battle of Shusha, the conflict’s dramatic culmination and pivotal victory. The battle, he explains, underlines the continued key importance of strategic cities in winning a campaign.

For further information, read John’s influential article on the battle here and a longer July 2021 discussion on the campaign here. John’s excellent series of regular podcasts on urban warfare can be found here.

As a Brussels-based analyst of EU, Turkish and ex-Soviet affairs, Amanda combines a wealth of experience with access to many of the region’s decision-makers. In this wide-ranging chat, she outlines the role of the EPC, separates fact from fiction in the EU hopes of the Associated Trio (Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine) and discusses the perception of pro-Armenian bias in parts of Europe.

James Ker-Lindsay is a British professor of international relations whose studies focus on peace and security issues. He teaches courses on conflict resolution and is an occasional advisor to the British foreign office. However, he is probably best known for his YouTube channel, which provides clear, easily digestible, yet in-depth backgrounds to a wide range of the world’s unsolved conflicts, quasi-nations and new states. Though his presentations span the globe, his main region of expertise is Southeast Europe, notably the Balkans and Cyprus. In today’s podcast, he makes some fascinating comparisons between conflicts in that zone and those in the Caspian region and points out key ramifications of geopolitical lessons that have been learned.