Podcast

Kelsey Rice is an Assistant Professor of History teaching Middle Eastern and Soviet at Bury College in the US. Speaking Azerbaijani and Farsi, Kelsey is admirably equipped for her in-depth research into facets of Azerbaijani history which have received all too little attention from global scholarship in recent years. Having scoured sources far and wide, including trawling the rich Baku archives, she has become one of the best-informed individuals anywhere in Baku in the early 20th century, a deep knowledge that she shares very generously in this podcast. You may contact Kelsey at [email protected]

If you thought diplomats had to leave their personalities behind to do their jobs, think again. Elin Suleymanov is Azerbaijan’s current ambassador in the UK. Before that he spent a decade as Baku’s main man in Washington, becoming probably the only ambassador to have appeared on Comedy Central. There’s plenty of humour in this very human yet incisive podcast conversation, but much to think about as Mark asks Elin about “caviar diplomacy,” Armenian detainees and hopes for longer term peace in the Caucasus.

Armenian-American analyst Richard Giragosian is the founder of the Regional Studies Center - an independent geopolitical think tank based in Yerevan. He’s a frequent contributor to global news networks, newspapers and periodicals. Before moving to Armenia a decade and a half ago he had been a staffer in the US congress and a lecturer to the US Special Forces. In this eloquent podcast, Richard suggests that, in the Caucasus, there is a clear window of opportunity for reframing decades of conflict. He gives insights as to how Azerbaijan might better understand Armenian viewpoints and how Armenia itself could benefit from greater diversity.