Dr. Magsud Mammadov
A single deal this August in the White House has redrawn the politics of Eurasia’s transport map. Washington, claiming to broker peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan, in an unprecedented move secured exclusive development rights to a new corridor through southern Armenia. Branded the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity,” the passage links Azerbaijan with its exclave of Nakhchivan and grants the United States a 99-year lease on a strategic choke point at the heart of Eurasia. What looks like infrastructure is, in fact, a bold assertion of geopolitical influence, creating an alternative East–West trade route.
The corridor’s significance extends well beyond commerce. Within weeks of the deal, both Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders were in China pitching the same project to Xi Jinping as part of the Middle Corridor’s eastward expansion. The route once designed to reduce regional rivalries, has instead become another arena of global competition. The real question is not only who builds the Middle Corridor, but who will use it and, more importantly, who owns it.
Core States: From Agency to Arena
At its foundation, the Middle Corridor is a regional project. Initiated by Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Georgia—and later joined by Turkey—these states have invested in ports like Baku and Aktau, built new railways and roads, and engaged heavily in soft infrastructure to streamline customs procedures and regional rules. Their goal has been clear: to shift from resource dependence, especially in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, toward becoming transit and logistics hubs linking Europe and Asia.
Yet operational agencies have not shielded them from external intrusion. The Zangezur Corridor/“Trump Route” deal illustrates how quickly sovereignty can be compromised. While formally under Armenian law, the corridor is effectively leased to Washington for nearly a century. What seems like a technical arrangement, in reality, a projection of US strategic control—one that provoked Iranian threats and uneasy silence from Moscow. The regional operators remain central, but the ground beneath them is increasingly contested.
Unmatched Geopolitics: China, Europe, and the Expanding Web
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