In 2024, the Mideast's map was redrawn.

Despite the Biden administration’s efforts to constrain Israel, the encircled nation achieved what few thought possible: defeating terrorists and delivering a heavy blow to Iran’s so-called axis of resistance — the fundamentalist proxies extending Tehran’s influence far beyond its borders.

Now, as Trump returns to the White House, the stage is set to mold a new Mideast stability, strengthening Israel while undermining Iran’s now-fragile foundations.

For this vision to succeed, the United States government needs capable partners in the region beyond Israel — not outdated allies who now act against American interests while being propped up by liberal dogma.

Nor should it listen to lobby groups opposing countries that could, in fact, help advance American greatness.

Azerbaijan, spread across the northern tip of the Middle East, fulfils such criteria. Yet under Biden, relations suffered, despite Azerbaijan’s unwavering support for America and Israel. It remains the only Shia-majority nation to have established an embassy in the Jewish state.

Furthermore, Azerbaijan supplies 40% of Israel’s oil needs, ensuring energy security for a nation whose Arab fossil-fuel-rich neighbors to the south largely refuse to recognize.

Azerbaijan is also no friend to Iran, its neighbor to the southeast. Azerbaijan’s close diplomatic, military, and intelligence ties with Israel provoke suspicion in Tehran.

Meanwhile, Iran’s large ethnic Azerbaijani population — comprising about a fifth of its total — stirs insecurity in the mullahs’ palace, not least because their heartlands are among the more restless.

Although both countries are predominantly Shia-Muslim, Azerbaijan is staunchly secular, challenging Iran’s model of theocracy and ideological influence across the region.

All this makes Azerbaijan a threat to the Ayatollahs. As the nation has grown in geopolitical stature, bolstered by a strengthening economy and military, it has weighed heavier on Iran’s danger scale.

In response, Iran stepped up military drills along its northern border. According to Azerbaijani President Aliyev, the Iranian establishment was also behind a terrorist attack on Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tehran which killed the head of the embassy's security service and injured two guards.

For Azerbaijan’s strategic position and geopolitical alignment, it would appear a natural partner for the U.S.

However, rather than focusing on the fundamentals of American interests, Biden viewed the U.S.-Azerbaijan relationship through the lens of the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict.

The two countries have been long-standing adversaries since Armenia occupied a fifth of Azerbaijani territory in the 1990s.

Yet, when Azerbaijan reclaimed the Nagorno-Karabakh territory in recent years, Biden sided with Armenia, bowing to pressure from the diaspora lobby in Washington — a stance that directly contradicted his position on the Ukraine war and support for territorial integrity.

As principled foreign policy has never been one of its strong suits, the Biden Administration delayed a waiver to Section 907.

Passed in 1992 as one of the Armenian lobby’s greatest achievements, Section 907 banned American aid to Azerbaijan, despite the country being under invasion by Armenia.

Recognizing Azerbaijan’s strategic importance to the US, particularly in the global war on terror and operations in Afghanistan, Section 907 has been waived every year since 9-11.

Not only allowing the U.S. to use its territory for critical transport and logistical lines Azerbaijan contributed troops to peacekeeping and security duties in Afghanistan.

Along with his calamitous withdrawal from Afghanistan, Biden deemed Azerbaijan no longer essential in U.S. interests.

Delaying the waiver effectively halted military aid. This "we will support you only as long as you can do something for us" shows both the lack of integrity and near-sightedness of the Biden administration.

The reality is that Azerbaijan could continue to be one of America’s strongest allies in bringing stability to a dysfunctional Mideast.

While the Biden Administration stayed silent, Armenia was supported by Russia and Iran.

Backed by Turkey, Azerbaijan won the Nagorno-Karabakh War.

Now Azerbaijan is serving as mediator between Israel and Turkey to prevent confrontation in post-al-Assad Syria, where both nations are actively involved.

Strained relations and deep mistrust between these two Mediterranean countries heighten the risk of accidental clashes.

To mitigate the threat, Azerbaijan stepped up to establish essential channels of communication.

Azerbaijan relations with the U.S. were marked by strong cooperation, mutual respect, and stability during the first Trump Administration.

The subsequent nosedive under Biden made it easy to recognize who President Aliyev preferred to win the 2024 November election.

Aliyev made this clear by praising Trump’s willingness to challenge the self-serving Western-imposed post-WW2 global order, and Trump’s respect for traditional values that he said resonated with Azerbaijanis.

Driving this point home, Aliyev said, "An absolute majority of the Azerbaijani people not only share this position but actively promote it and put it into practice."

While Biden’s foreign policy was full of contradictions such as support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, but not Azerbaijan’s.

Trump’s approach involves long-term American interests and achieving global stability.

Guided by clarity, America must identify partners who can help achieve its goals, unshackled from the disaster of Biden’s manipulation of allies.

Azerbaijan has proved itself to not just be a willing partner, but a capable one.

(A related article may be found here.)

Colonel (Retired) Wes Martin a retired U.S. Army colonel, has served in law enforcement positions around the world and holds a MBA in International Politics and Business.