10:09     21 May 2021    

Alan Kafruni, Professor of International Relations, Hamilton College (USA) gave an exclusive interview to Baku Tribune.

Alan Kafruni, Professor of International Relations, Hamilton College (USA) gave an exclusive interview to Baku Tribune. - At the initiative of the United States, a virtual climate summit will be held. Why did ​Biden need this summit, in your opinion? - Climate change was central to Biden’s presidential campaign and it will remain important to Democratic Party performance in the 2022 congressional elections. He immediately returned the United States to the Paris accords and now promises to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 50% lower than 2005. Although some major U.S. corporations have endorsed this plan corporate America in general fears a loss of competitiveness. In order to obtain global cooperation on mutual cuts Biden will need to persuade the rest of the world that he can put new laws in place and maintain them. - President Joe Biden intends to return the United States to a leadership role in the global arena, including in the fight against climate change. Can Biden return the US leadership role on the global stage? - Of course climate change offers one path to U.S. global leadership. But the overall plan of the Biden administration is to enhance its relations with European and Asian allies. In Europe this means reducing conflicts within the NATO alliance. In Asia the United States seeks to consolidate the “quad” as a quasi-military and in some respects economic alliance against China. - In your opinion, can the US go to an armed confrontation with Russia over Ukraine? - Notwithstanding tensions Washington does not want a repeat of the 2008 Georgia scenario, and this is even more the case for Berlin and Paris. So the likelihood of armed conflict is low, although misperceptions and miscalculations can always occur. - Western countries in recent days have repeatedly expressed concern about the statements of the Ukrainian military about the build-up of Russian forces along the border with Ukraine. In the United States, it was called a campaign to undermine and destabilize Ukraine. Initially, American ships were supposed to go to the Black Sea, but later the United States canceled the passage. Why do you think the United States changed its mind about sending its ships to the Black Sea? - Given the Russian naval build-up in the Black Sea it is probably that the United States calculated that it was risky and therefore premature to send two warships. It is possible that the decision represents only a tactical pause and that further and that in the future a larger and more organized deployment could be made. Elvin Mahmudov