Passions might not have run high if we had shown a broader approach to the issue – that is we should not have considered only one aspect of the issue, namely, that it is only Armenia that is suffering losses. Azerbaijan is equally involved in the conflict so it is suffering as well. Therefore, being concerned over its economic future, that country should also be concerned with the speediest settlement of the conflict. For some unknown reason, the issue was overlooked by political figures. The “no war no peace” situation between Armenia and Azerbaijan makes both states spend huge funds on arms and army reforms, slow down or even stop political and economic reforms. In fact, Azerbaijan is in a worse situation than Armenia. Soon after ceasefire was established, Armenia had a full-fledged army and its only task was to maintain its efficiency. As regards Azerbaijan, its army was defeated, and that state’s task was to form an army, which required much more funds. True, Azerbaijan has huge oil and gas resources, which, however, have hardly improved the Azerbaijani people’s well-being – the social conditions in both the states are hardly different. Azerbaijan would be a different country but for the Nagorno-Karabakh knot.

To comprehend Azerbaijan’s losses from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, let us take France and Algeria as an example. When French President Charles de Gaulle recognized Algeria’s independence in 1962, many people thought France would face an economic collapse. As a colony, Algeria supplied cheap energy resources to France, and French landowners had estates in that country, which were a source of huge incomes for them. After France granted independence to Algeria, it registered more rapid progress than before. Nothing unusual. The funds France had spent on war with Algeria before were invested in the national economy. As long as French companies received cheap oil they did not plan any technological modernization. However, after finding themselves in an open business environment, they began seriously thinking of efficiency. Moreover, French companies’ reputation improved in the international market – they were not representing a colonizer country any more. These are the benefits of peace and good neighborly relations.