Thanks to its energy resources, Azerbaijan has achieved importance as a Eurasian actor. It has also managed, following independence from the USSR in 1991, to balance its foreign relations with Russia and the West. Whereas initially a rejection of Russia and rapprochement with the West predominated, for a number of years there has been a realignment. The only serious cloud on the horizon in Azeri foreign relations is its conflict with neighbouring Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.
