Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, an oil-rich autocracy perched on the Western shores of the Caspian Sea, is determined to teach a lesson to its unruly youth who increasingly break long-standing taboos in pursuit of democratic freedoms. But the policy of sticks alone may no longer work.

The Economic Freedom of the World study gives all nations a very useful tool to see in which areas their countries\' economies have weak spots, why investors are not attracted to what they offer and why individuals avoid hard work.

Russia sees Azerbaijan as a target of high priority, the subordination of which to Russia would help seal Central Asia off from the West.