Israel — Quiet supporter; energy ties (Azeri oil funds 28% of Israel's imports)
5. Summary
Azerbaijan’s drone-enabled victory and U.S.-backed TRIPP rail are forging a Turkic-Caspian axis to reroute Eurasian trade, isolate Iran, sideline Russia, and challenge China’s BRI — all while avoiding direct military blocs.
Fascinating history, and facts!.....thank you so much. Since my sister is involved with an Armenian, you would hear a totally different story from that person about who persecuted who. Many of the Armenians were Christian, and not accepted by either the Sunnis or the Shiites. Thank you for this info on what will be an interesting future for these people!
As others have said, thanks for a very informative & revealing article; I had no idea... All I get via western media is a filtered version of what they want me to know...what's that word again? Oh yes, propaganda.
I enjoyed this article very much. Not so much as a history lesson, just more about what is going on around the world that most don't know or care about. There are pockets of conflicts everywhere...some well known and others not-so-much or completely forgotten about that continue to simmer away until some future boiling point. Back to Azerbaijan, I though I would include this YouTube link as I am positive this man is the most famous person from there..
PS..Matt, I bought 'The Preparation' for myself... I don't have any children of my own. However at 64, I still feel lost now as when I was Maxim's age.
My major takeaway was the propaganda there, propaganda here, propaganda everywhere. From birth, through school, through everyday news and conversations, all the time ever present. How to get above it all and actually see the truth is beyond me. Thanks for the wake up (again) article.
Thanks for the detailed first person observations and the many conversational insights! As for the comparison between America and every country that is able to build big projects modernizing their cities and transport, perhaps the biggest handicap Americans face is our legal system which cripples everything. We will continue to decay until the complete authority or lawyers in this country is brought low.
I'm no expert but a little research indicates that Armenian citizens inhabited the disputed region for two millenia. In my book that makes it theirs. Whitewashing its capture via propaganda can't change that moral reality, but propaganda and power projection can cause a change of ownership, if any resistance from the legitimate inhabitants can be permanently crushed. Same story in Israel, where resistance is not crushed, and the US, where resistance is fully rushed. It's all theft to me, but you can "move on" if there can be no further push back from the original inhabitants.
Thank you for a great article, and all the links which were available to read in English. I'm getting all of my history lessons from reading "Doug Casey's Take".
I believe a significant reason why America has such difficulty doing simple things is it is just where it is right now in its civilizational cycle.
It will eventually return to it's frontier mentality where no project is too ambitious and no obstacle is too overwhelming, however, that will take a full on collapse first where nothing works anywhere and there is no money to pay for anything.
Then and only then with the American mind clear of the fog that has been incrementally installed in their collective brain by the sponsors of the bureaucracy, i.e. globalist banksters which dip their proboscis into the veins of the American productive class. Grandiose edifices and bureaucracies have been constructed as well as generous make work jobs for family members of the elites, using the siphoned wealth of those who can and do... things.
Eventually, it will go full circle and this suffocation of will and innovation will be swept away along with the useless elites that have nurtured, grown, controlled and benefited generationally from this poisonous siphon.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have already gone through this period of collapse when the Soviet Union went full dodo bird. When we zoom out on the timeline of history and focus less on the fractal and more on the cyclical patterns of the birth / growth / sclerosis / death / rebirth, then we see clearly that it is just time. Right now, the rebirth of the Silk Road is just at its time to flourish, AFTER all the fetid weeds of interference and grift were essentially burned away from a few decades of very tough times.
Eventually, people have to work together in order to survive and as a result they pay less attention to those that want to divide and more to those that wish to unite. America will experience this rebirth as well, although in order for that to happen it must collapse under its own hubris and grift first. Then and only then will the soil be fertile once again for the time and effort of the adventurous.
Thank you for the article. It was very interesting and insightful. I would note, however, that the conflict over the Karabakh region predates Armenia taking it back in the 1990s, and Azerbaijan's recent reclamation of it through drone war. That is not a full picture of the dispute of this region. If I'm not mistaken, these lands were taken from Armenia under Stalin's Soviet Union, and given to Azerbaijan as a ploy to keep the two regions in a never-ending conflict instead of rebelling against the Soviets. Certainly the history of this conflict will predates the 1990s. I think your article, though honest about the heavy-handed Azerbaijani propaganda did fail to note that there's a complicated history here and the Armenians might not be just land grabbers who got theirs their comeuppance in a recent drone war loss.
Azerbaijan’s Karabakh Victory & New Western Corridor Strategy
1. Karabakh Reclaimed via Drone War (2020–23)
Azerbaijan used Turkish Bayraktar TB2 and Israeli Harop drones to decisively defeat Armenian forces in 44 days (2020) and a 1-day blitz (2023).
→ Destroyed Soviet-era defenses with low-cost precision strikes
→ Forced 120,000 Armenians to flee; Russia withdrew peacekeepers in 2024
2. Rapid Redevelopment
$10B+ invested in smart cities, rail, green energy
→ Integrates Karabakh into Middle Corridor trade route
→ Aims for 1M returnees by 2030
3. Geopolitical Goal: Block Russia-Iran-China North-South Corridor (INSTC + BRI)
INSTC: Russia → Iran → India (bypasses Suez, avoids sanctions)
BRI: China’s global land bridge
Western Counter: Middle Corridor (China → Kazakhstan → Caspian → Azerbaijan → Georgia → Turkey → EU)
• 2025 Breakthrough: U.S.-brokered TRIPP Corridor (ex-Zangezur)
• 43-km rail/pipeline through Armenia (99-year U.S. sublease)
• Links Azerbaijan to Turkey without Iran or Russia
• $50B trade potential; cargo up 50% in 2024
4. New Alliances
U.S. — Mediator, financier, strategic anchor
Turkey — Drone supplier, rail builder, NATO bridge
Azerbaijan — Corridor gatekeeper, energy hub
Kazakhstan — Eastern anchor, diversifying from Russia/China
Armenia — Reluctant participant (EU pivot, sovereignty preserved)
Israel — Quiet supporter; energy ties (Azeri oil funds 28% of Israel's imports)
5. Summary
Azerbaijan’s drone-enabled victory and U.S.-backed TRIPP rail are forging a Turkic-Caspian axis to reroute Eurasian trade, isolate Iran, sideline Russia, and challenge China’s BRI — all while avoiding direct military blocs.
Fascinating history, and facts!.....thank you so much. Since my sister is involved with an Armenian, you would hear a totally different story from that person about who persecuted who. Many of the Armenians were Christian, and not accepted by either the Sunnis or the Shiites. Thank you for this info on what will be an interesting future for these people!
As others have said, thanks for a very informative & revealing article; I had no idea... All I get via western media is a filtered version of what they want me to know...what's that word again? Oh yes, propaganda.
I enjoyed this article very much. Not so much as a history lesson, just more about what is going on around the world that most don't know or care about. There are pockets of conflicts everywhere...some well known and others not-so-much or completely forgotten about that continue to simmer away until some future boiling point. Back to Azerbaijan, I though I would include this YouTube link as I am positive this man is the most famous person from there..
https://www.youtube.com/c/WILDERNESSCOOKING
PS..Matt, I bought 'The Preparation' for myself... I don't have any children of my own. However at 64, I still feel lost now as when I was Maxim's age.
My major takeaway was the propaganda there, propaganda here, propaganda everywhere. From birth, through school, through everyday news and conversations, all the time ever present. How to get above it all and actually see the truth is beyond me. Thanks for the wake up (again) article.
Thanks for the detailed first person observations and the many conversational insights! As for the comparison between America and every country that is able to build big projects modernizing their cities and transport, perhaps the biggest handicap Americans face is our legal system which cripples everything. We will continue to decay until the complete authority or lawyers in this country is brought low.
I'm no expert but a little research indicates that Armenian citizens inhabited the disputed region for two millenia. In my book that makes it theirs. Whitewashing its capture via propaganda can't change that moral reality, but propaganda and power projection can cause a change of ownership, if any resistance from the legitimate inhabitants can be permanently crushed. Same story in Israel, where resistance is not crushed, and the US, where resistance is fully rushed. It's all theft to me, but you can "move on" if there can be no further push back from the original inhabitants.
Thank you for a great article, and all the links which were available to read in English. I'm getting all of my history lessons from reading "Doug Casey's Take".
Great summary of your trip Matt.
I believe a significant reason why America has such difficulty doing simple things is it is just where it is right now in its civilizational cycle.
It will eventually return to it's frontier mentality where no project is too ambitious and no obstacle is too overwhelming, however, that will take a full on collapse first where nothing works anywhere and there is no money to pay for anything.
Then and only then with the American mind clear of the fog that has been incrementally installed in their collective brain by the sponsors of the bureaucracy, i.e. globalist banksters which dip their proboscis into the veins of the American productive class. Grandiose edifices and bureaucracies have been constructed as well as generous make work jobs for family members of the elites, using the siphoned wealth of those who can and do... things.
Eventually, it will go full circle and this suffocation of will and innovation will be swept away along with the useless elites that have nurtured, grown, controlled and benefited generationally from this poisonous siphon.
Azerbaijan and Armenia have already gone through this period of collapse when the Soviet Union went full dodo bird. When we zoom out on the timeline of history and focus less on the fractal and more on the cyclical patterns of the birth / growth / sclerosis / death / rebirth, then we see clearly that it is just time. Right now, the rebirth of the Silk Road is just at its time to flourish, AFTER all the fetid weeds of interference and grift were essentially burned away from a few decades of very tough times.
Eventually, people have to work together in order to survive and as a result they pay less attention to those that want to divide and more to those that wish to unite. America will experience this rebirth as well, although in order for that to happen it must collapse under its own hubris and grift first. Then and only then will the soil be fertile once again for the time and effort of the adventurous.
Thank you for the excellent report from Azerbaijan, really enjoyed the read and the news clips included.
Thank you for the article. It was very interesting and insightful. I would note, however, that the conflict over the Karabakh region predates Armenia taking it back in the 1990s, and Azerbaijan's recent reclamation of it through drone war. That is not a full picture of the dispute of this region. If I'm not mistaken, these lands were taken from Armenia under Stalin's Soviet Union, and given to Azerbaijan as a ploy to keep the two regions in a never-ending conflict instead of rebelling against the Soviets. Certainly the history of this conflict will predates the 1990s. I think your article, though honest about the heavy-handed Azerbaijani propaganda did fail to note that there's a complicated history here and the Armenians might not be just land grabbers who got theirs their comeuppance in a recent drone war loss.