Is Azerbaijan a Model for Smart Governance?
This past December, my plane touched down during the middle of the night to a misty and quiet Baku. I had arrived in the capital city of Azerbaijan, the land of fire. This was my first visit, and I was here to participate in an international forum that would help answer the question: is Azerbaijan a model for smart governance?
I was about to find out. The next few days would be full of enlightenment and surprise.
The City of Baku
Baku is a modern metropolis with a population of around two and a half million and nestled on the western edge of the Caspian Sea. In the neighborhood of this inland sea — which is also known as the world’s largest lake — is Iran to the South, Turkmenistan to the East, and Russia and Kazakhstan to the North. The city is a mix of the new and the old and it’s hard not to acknowledge a variety of clashing architecture representing a rich and complex cultural history.
It’s an area that I’ve never been to before, so I arrived full of anticipation and curiosity. While research in advance can help, there’s nothing like physically being on the ground in a new place. The Internet doesn’t yet provide the intangible human feeling of meeting and spending time with locals, or the tastes and smells of unfamiliar food.
