If, as a former British Prime Minister remarked, a week is a long time in politics, five months must be judged an eternity. But that is the length of time Azerbaijan has now been without a US Ambassador in place, and this during a period of heightened regional tensions arising from Iran’s nuclear ambitions. This is not the first time that the American embassy has been left without a senior...
read moreA second major opposition rally in Azerbaijan passed peacefully and without incident last week. The demonstration, which took place outside Baku, provided evidence that the authorities are living up to their promise to respect the freedoms of assembly and expression – providing that the opposition stays within the law. All of this is welcome, but I can’t help feeling that the opposition needs...
read moreArriving in Baku on Monday for two days of meetings, the Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, described the reports that Azerbaijan had agreed to allow Israel to use its airfields to attack Iran as “a James Bond story.” “Such reports are from the sphere of science fiction and do not correspond with reality,” Lieberman said. Lieberman’s visit came a month after a report on the...
read moreFrench foreign policy may have its weaknesses, but few doubt that it is based on a correct, indeed laser-like, conception of French national interest. So if a succession of French ministers and VIPs hit town offering warm words of friendship, it is reasonable to assume that they have concluded that the French interest is likely to be served by closer relations. Earlier this year Azerbaijani...
read moreAzerbaijan is the crucible where questions over the future of geo-economic relations in Eurasia, and therefore over crucial elements of world politics, are being shaped – as a leading expert on energy security has pointed out in an important essay. In the worlds of Robert Cutler, a senior research fellow at Canada’s Carleton University, Azerbaijan’s significance arises from two factors: ...
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Gerald Frost is a journalist and writer by profession and has written widely about domestic and international politics.
Gerald was head of the UK-based Institute of European Defence and Strategic Studies, which he founded in 1981, Director of the Centre for Policy Studies (1992-95), Margaret Thatcher’s favourite think-tank, and Director of the Caspian Information Centre since 2003.
Gerald has edited more than 70 books and monographs and has published a number of books including, “In Search of Stability: Europe’s Unfinished Revolution”, “Europe in Turmoil” and “Hubris: the Tempting of Modern Conservatives”. He has given policy advice to and written speeches for three leaders of the Conservative Party, including Margaret Thatcher.
Between 1975 and the Conservative election victory in 1979 Gerald was speechwriter to Sir Keith Joseph, the Conservative politician and thinker who is widely credited with having changed the philosophy of the Conservative Party and the direction of post-Second World War British politics during this period. His most recent book is “Champion of Liberty”, a biography of Sir Antony Fisher, the founder of the Institute of Economic Affairs.
He has contributed articles to The Daily Telegraph, The Wall Street Journal (US and European editions), The Sunday Times, The National Interest (US), National Review (US), The New Criterion (US), Politique Internationale (France) and Encounter, on whose editorial board he served from 1982-85. His work has also been published by the American Enterprise Institute, the Centre for Policy Studies and the Social Affairs Unit.
Wide public speaking and broadcasting experience includes five lecture tours of the US. Gerald has been listed in Who’s Who since 1992.