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The Liberum: Ilham Aliyev's speech outlines the foreign policy doctrine that defines Azerbaijan's place in the world

05 October 2026 21:00 (UTC +04:00)

The publication "The Liberum" has published an article titled "The Aliyev Doctrine: How Does Azerbaijan Define Its Place in the World?", dedicated to the speech delivered by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev at the 8th Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party.

The article reads:

"Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev addressed the 8th Congress of the New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) in Baku on Friday, the first party congress convened since Azerbaijan fully restored its territorial integrity and sovereignty. His speech reviewed three decades of statehood, but its lasting importance lies elsewhere. The President set out, in systematic terms, the principles that guide Azerbaijan’s conduct in international affairs. “We do not need anyone’s help, nor do we need anyone’s patronage.”

First principle: self-reliance in security
The first principle holds that security cannot be borrowed. Speaking as Supreme Commander-in-Chief, President Aliyev stated that everything Azerbaijan has acquired for its armed forces since 2003, through domestic production and through imports, was purchased with its own money at world prices, “down to the last bullet.”

The principle looks forward as well as back. With wars multiplying around the region, the President named the further strengthening of military power as the first task ahead, so that no one would contemplate a provocation against Azerbaijan. Nearly 9 billion manats (5.2 billion USD) are allocated to defence and security in next year’s budget.

Second principle: economic sovereignty
The second principle treats economic independence as the precondition of political independence. Its application began early. Azerbaijan ended its borrowing relationship with the International Monetary Fund soon after Aliyev first took office and steadily reduced its exposure to other lenders.

The figures cited at the congress show the result. External debt stands at 5.6 per cent of GDP, one of the lowest ratios in the world. Foreign exchange reserves have reached 90 billion dollars, roughly 20 times the external debt, and the President noted that the government could repay the debt in full within 24 hours if it chose.

Third principle: partnership without alignment
The third principle distinguishes independence from isolation. The President described a network of relations that few states of comparable size can match: strategic partnership formats with ten member states of the European Union, a comprehensive strategic partnership with China and a Strategic Charter with the United States.

Fourth principle: reciprocal non-interference
The President stated the fourth principle most explicitly. He linked foreign policy to what he called the country’s ideological space, which must remain free from foreign elements and foreign influences, and he presented this as a foreign policy strategy in its own right. Foreign policy, he said, is built so that no one interferes in Azerbaijan’s affairs.

The logic is consistent. How Azerbaijani society organises its public life, which model of statehood it follows and which decisions its government takes in international forums are matters for Azerbaijanis.

This holds regardless of where the advice comes from, whether from distant capitals or closer to home, and regardless of whether it is delivered as criticism or friendly counsel. Aliyev was blunt: everyone should look after their own nation and state and not tell Azerbaijan what to do.

Fifth principle: strategic restraint and reliability
The fifth principle concerns how power is used. Independence gives a state the freedom to act, and the doctrine pairs that freedom with discipline. Azerbaijan halted its operations in Karabakh at the right moment in November 2020 and again in September 2023, although other options existed.

The terms of engagement
The five principles outlined above form a coherent approach to preserving Azerbaijan’s independence in an international system shaped by conflicts, rivalries and hostilities.

Azerbaijan continues to apply a balanced foreign policy approach, maintaining mutually beneficial and respectful relations with all major powers without allying with one side at the cost of the country’s relations with other power centres. “Our destiny is in our own hands,” the President told the YAP congress. The Aliyev doctrine exists to keep it there."