Thesis advisor: David DiPasquale / For forty-four days in the fall of 2020, Armenians and Azeris fought a bitter war for control of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh. Azerbaijan’s victory upset the region’s uneasy status quo and plunged the South Caucasus into a renewed state of uncertainty. While the most recent war was fought with twenty-first century weapons, the roots of the Armenian-Azeri conflict over Artsakh stretch back well over a century. In order to unravel the causes behind Azerbaijan’s invasion last fall, this thesis delves into the history behind the present conflict, engaging both with Artsakh’s ancient past as well as the more recent developments that have shaped the region in the post-Soviet era. This thesis also offers a comprehensive account of the war, examining the factors behind Azerbaijan’s military success. In doing so, this thesis seeks not only to offer insights into past events, but also to identify the political dynamics that will continue to influence the region in the years to come. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Political Science.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka bakomliggande faktorer som sätter käppar i hjulen för demokratiseringsprocessen i Azerbaijan. Med hjälp av rapporter från olika internationella organisationer, såsom Freedom House ser jag landets demokratiska utveckling och fungerande. Jag använt mig av den teoribekräftande fallstudien där jag applicerar demokratiseringsteorin på fallet i Azerbaijan. Freedom House rapport ” Nations in Transit” i Azerbaijan 2011 kan man förknipa med Robert Dahls polyarki begrepp.Polyarkibegreppet bygger på två grundelement: medverkan och tävlan eller konkurrens. Tanken bakom detta är att valen skall vara fria och rättvisa. Dahls polyarkimodell lägger krav på ett demokratiskt innehåll, politiska fri- och rättigheter. Yttrandefrihet, pressfrihet, allmän rösträtt och organisationsfrihet är grundläggande faktorer i polyarkin. Dahl´s polyarki består av ett antal kriterier som måste uppfyllas för att ett samhälle skall kunna betraktas som demokratiskt. Analysen av artiklarnas kriterier och teorier om demokratiseringsprocessen har visat att korruptionen och bristen på mänskliga rättigheter utgör en stor del i byggandet av en demokratisk stat. Robert Dahls kriterier som Freedom House rapporten utgår efter visar tydligt hur korrupt landet är, och just därför ses landet att vara långt ifrån demokratiskt. / The purpose of this paper is to examine the underlying factors that put a spoke in the wheels of the democratization process in Azerbaijan. With the help of the reports from various international organizations such as Freedom House, I see the country democratic development and functioning.I am using the theory confirmation case study in which I apply democratic theory to the case of Azerbaijan. Freedom House Report “Nations in Transit” in Azerbaijan 2011, can associate with Robert Dahl´s polyarki concepts.Polyarki is concept based on two basic elements, participation and rivalry or competition. The idea behind this is that the elections be free and fair. Dahl polyarki modell adds requirements for a democratic content, political rights and freedoms. Freedom of expression, freedom of the press, universal suffrage and freedom of association are fundamental factors in polyarki concept. Dahls polyarki consists of a number of criteria must be met for a society to be considered democratic.The analysis of the articles criteria and theories of the democratic process has shown tha corruption and lack of human rights constitute a major part in building a democratic state. Robert Dahls criteria wich Freedom House report are made after clearly shows how corrupt the country is, and just because the country is seen to be far from democratic.

In a world where nationalist movements are on the rise with the potential to contest state legitimacy, the study of nationalism both as a political phenomenon and as an academic topic becomes more salient. / This study attempts to explain the causes of nationalism, as well as the conditions that contribute to its militarization. It advances working definitions of the concepts of ethnic groups, nations and nationalism, and identifies the differences between ethnic and national politics. The emergence of nationalism is analyzed through a model. which aims to present a causal relationship between nation, nationalism and militarized crisis. The derived propositions and hypotheses are tested on the Nagorno-Karabagh case, an irredentist conflict in Transcaucasia that has developed into a militarized crisis and has escalated to war.

No description available.

The primary aim of this study is to examine the political risks, particularly of indirect expropriation in long-term energy investment contracts, focusing on stabilisation clauses and examining what driving force(s) influence host states to agree to insert such clauses in their host governmental contracts. The secondary aim of this work is to examine the political structure of Azerbaijan and Turkey and the guarantees available to foreign investors under their laws within those nations from a comparative perspective. The work dedicates particular attention to how effective internal factors in Azerbaijan and Turkey are in facilitating contractual stability in their respective energy investment projects. This study applies both comparative and empirical research methods, fieldwork and library based research. It seeks to provide a theoretical and comparative understanding of political regimes, foreign investment laws and constitutional guarantees and investment policies in Azerbaijan and Turkey. The work has provided that the driving forces behind why Azerbaijan and Turkey consented to insert stabilisation clauses in the host government agreements of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Project (BTC) can be attributed to each of these being in possession of: a weak bargaining position, weak formal and informal institutions, insufficient laws on foreign direct investment, absence of specific petroleum legislations and a keenness to promote investment and economic activities in their regional markets. It is imperative to lenders and insurers that the host state where the investment will be made is a stable environment. In order to be satisfied that this is the case and to future-proof themselves against risk, they require the insertion of stabilisation clauses in host government agreements. Credit-rating agencies assessments exercise influence over the terms to be agreed and, indeed over the investor’s decision whether to participate in a project. Further research into stabilisation clauses might invite the analysis of specific petroleum producing countries from different regions to better understand how internal and external factors are effective in providing stability. The transferability of the research findings could be further strengthened by surveying and interviewing more participants from petroleum companies, non-governmental organisations, law firms, financial institutions, political risk insurance providers, government bureaucrats and international academics.

Using a multivariate vector autoregression (VAR) approach, this paper investigates the relationships between oil price and macroeconomic indicators of closely interrelated developing economies of oil exporting Azerbaijan and oil importing Georgia based on monthly time series from January 2001 to November 2012. The model is estimated for each country separately and the results are object for comparison. The empirical evidence suggests that oil price has significant effects on macroeconomy in both countries. In particular, these effects are positive for all 3 macroeconomic variables on the example of Azerbaijan. On the example of Georgia, these effects are positive for GDP and inflation rate, and, negative for exchange rate. On the other hand, macroeconomic indicators of Azerbaijan fail to affect oil price level.

Ecotoxicology studies attempt to evaluate the consequences of exposure to environmental contaminants by defining exposure and effects parameters across multiple levels of biological organization. Genetic markers are well-suited for these studies as they can track both somatic and evolutionary effects. In the studies reported here, connections among contaminant levels in environmental media and biota, in vitro bioassay results, and changes in individual- and population-level biomarkers were explored. Sediment and/or wildlife samples were collected from each of three sites of documented environmental contamination, Sumgayit and Baku in the Republic of Azerbaijan and East Fork Poplar Creek in Tennessee. Sumgayit and Baku are heavily contaminated with petroleum and petrochemical wastes. Sediments from several areas and tissues from turtles inhabiting a contaminated wetland contained high levels of several compounds, including mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and organochlorine pesticides. Sediment extracts produced variable responses in the Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity assay and did not necessarily reflect contaminant burden. Micronucleus counts in European pond turtles were not statistically different from counts in the same species from an uncontaminated reference site. The counts were statistically correlated with tissue levels of mercury, heptachlor, DDD, hexachlorobenzene, and trans-nonachlor. These results confirmed that Sumgayit and Baku are heavily contaminated with a complex mixture of pollutants and demonstrated that genotoxic effects from exposure to contaminated sediments appear to be slight. East Fork Poplar Creek is a stream that receives contaminant influx from a former Department of Energy nuclear weapons production facility and several point and non-point sources around the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In this study, coefficient of variation in cellular DNA content and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA markers were examined in central stonerollers and compared to previous studies in which the same markers were evaluated in red-breasted sunfish from the same sites. While assay responses were attenuated in stonerollers compared to the sunfish, there is some evidence of genetic damage in both species at the most contaminated sampling site. A common problem in the wildlife studies was high within sample variability combined with small sample size, which most likely masked potential contaminant-induced differences in markers used in these studies.

This thesis seeks to examine the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey in terms of the role that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict plays in this relationship. The Nagorno Karabakh conflict, which is one of the long-lasting ethno-territorial conflicts in the region, continues to be the major issue-area for Azerbaijan&rsquo / s foreign policy. In this respect, Azerbaijan&rsquo / s relations with Turkey, as well as NATO, the United States and Russia could be understood better through an academic study of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict. Contrary to the views of some scholars who claim that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict has become relatively less important vis-&agrave / -vis the economic and energy issues in the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey, this thesis argues that the Nagorno Karabakh conflict still maintains its centrality in the relations between Azerbaijan and Turkey. The thesis has five chapters, including introduction and conclusion chapters: Chapter Two explores the evolution of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict during the Elchibey period, while the Chapter Three and Chapter Four discuss the impact of this conflict on Azerbaijan&rsquo / s relations with Turkey under Heidar and Ilham Aliyev periods respectively.

Ecotoxicology studies attempt to evaluate the consequences of exposure to environmental contaminants by defining exposure and effects parameters across multiple levels of biological organization. Genetic markers are well-suited for these studies as they can track both somatic and evolutionary effects. In the studies reported here, connections among contaminant levels in environmental media and biota, in vitro bioassay results, and changes in individual- and population-level biomarkers were explored. Sediment and/or wildlife samples were collected from each of three sites of documented environmental contamination, Sumgayit and Baku in the Republic of Azerbaijan and East Fork Poplar Creek in Tennessee. Sumgayit and Baku are heavily contaminated with petroleum and petrochemical wastes. Sediments from several areas and tissues from turtles inhabiting a contaminated wetland contained high levels of several compounds, including mercury, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated biphenyls, and organochlorine pesticides. Sediment extracts produced variable responses in the Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity assay and did not necessarily reflect contaminant burden. Micronucleus counts in European pond turtles were not statistically different from counts in the same species from an uncontaminated reference site. The counts were statistically correlated with tissue levels of mercury, heptachlor, DDD, hexachlorobenzene, and trans-nonachlor. These results confirmed that Sumgayit and Baku are heavily contaminated with a complex mixture of pollutants and demonstrated that genotoxic effects from exposure to contaminated sediments appear to be slight. East Fork Poplar Creek is a stream that receives contaminant influx from a former Department of Energy nuclear weapons production facility and several point and non-point sources around the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In this study, coefficient of variation in cellular DNA content and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA markers were examined in central stonerollers and compared to previous studies in which the same markers were evaluated in red-breasted sunfish from the same sites. While assay responses were attenuated in stonerollers compared to the sunfish, there is some evidence of genetic damage in both species at the most contaminated sampling site. A common problem in the wildlife studies was high within sample variability combined with small sample size, which most likely masked potential contaminant-induced differences in markers used in these studies.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, Riverside, 2009. / Includes abstract. Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Title from first page of PDF file (viewed March 23, 2010). Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.