For Westerners the modern state of Azerbaijan may be hard to pinpoint This small oilrich country in the southern Caucasus on the southwestern shore of the Caspian Sea only made its way on to the contemporary world map after the dissolution of the Soviet Union inAs the world shrinks and competition for precious resources intensifies the direction this strategically and economically important country takes will affect us all nbsp The historically tolerant and pluralist Azeri people have an ancient history and a rich culture Azerbaijan lay on the route of the Great Silk Road the trade network that connected China with Europe and its people have lived through centuries of conquests by different imperial powers It was also situated in the heart of the Great Game the struggle for control of Central Asia played out between Russia and the West at the turn on the nineteenth century which seems to be going through a modern remake Azerbaijan has been called the quintessential borderland many