But none of this may ultimately matter if the West ­– and the United States, in particular – decides that Ilham’s regime is not ensuring its interests and seeks to manipulate the global media image accordingly. The West’s main interest is not Azerbaijan’s oil reserves, which accounted for just 0.06% of the world’s total in 2004, but its geopolitical position at the crossroads of global energy and transport corridors and as a frontline state vis-à-vis an increasingly assertive Iran.
但如果西方各国¾特别是美国，最终认定伊尔哈姆的政权未能确保他们的利益，并以此为导向操纵阿塞拜疆政府在全球媒体上的形象，那么所有这些业绩都将变得毫无用处。西方主要的利益并不在于阿塞拜疆的石油储备，2004年那里的石油储备仅占全球总量的0.06%，西方的利益在于这里地处全球能源与交通走廊交汇点的地理位置及其牵制态度强硬的伊朗所处的前沿位置。