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Whose Resilience? Resilience and Regime Strength in EU-Azerbaijan Relations

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Resilience and the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood Countries

Abstract

The European Union (EU) has deepened its resilience-building policy substantially in recent years, expanding the scope of the concept and applying it to its external relations. However, as with many policies, the actual implementation may face difficulties. This chapter reflects on the challenges posed to resilience-building in states with authoritarian regimes, due to the inevitable contradictions between elite interests and interests of society as a whole. Using the case study of Azerbaijan, the chapter argues that the EU needs to be cautious to avoid strengthening the resilience of this regime rather than the intended inclusive resilience of broader society. The chapter addresses societal, political, and economic resilience as dimensions that would benefit citizens of Azerbaijan. For each of these dimensions, the potential pitfalls are discussed, followed by some conclusions about how societal interests can be secured.

I wish to acknowledge the financial support of the University of Kent and the GCRF UKRI COMPASS project (ES/P010849/1), which made this research project possible.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Interviewees are referred to as either being affiliated with European (EU or other) institutions; the Azerbaijani opposition; the Azerbaijani authorities; or as independent experts who are not affiliated with either the EU, the Azerbaijani authorities, or the Azerbaijani political opposition.

  2. 2.

    The analysis as such is thus mostly based on the interpretation of the author. Triangulation of arguments has been attempted to the greatest extent possible, but there were restraints due to the fact that ‘resilience’ is a relatively novel concept in the EU’s policy towards the Eastern Partnership states, and not much has been published to date in relation to Azerbaijan.

  3. 3.

    Regime performance is one of the elements that can enhance regimes’ legitimacy (Von Soest and Grauvogel 2017, p. 291).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK

    Eske Van Gils

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  1. Eske Van Gils
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Correspondence to Eske Van Gils .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. LAREQUOI, ISM-IAE of Versailles-St-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Paris-Saclay University, Guyancourt, France

    Gilles Rouet

  2. Centre for Research in International Economic Relations and European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Iasi, Romania

    Gabriela Carmen Pascariu

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Van Gils, E. (2019). Whose Resilience? Resilience and Regime Strength in EU-Azerbaijan Relations. In: Rouet, G., Pascariu, G.C. (eds) Resilience and the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood Countries. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25606-7_15

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25606-7_15

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