Nassim Nicholas Taleb declines Azerbaijan visit, citing former Karabakh official’s imprisonment

Renowned economist and writer Nassim Nicholas Taleb has rejected an invitation to deliver a lecture in Azerbaijan, saying he will not “set foot” in the country as long as former Karabakh State Minister Ruben Vardanyan remains jailed there.

“Was asked to go to Azerbaijan for a lecture. I declined (they yuugely upped their offer, not understanding my ethics, thinking it would make a difference). I will not set foot in Azerbaijan with Reuben Vardanyan jailed there,” Nassim Nicholas Taleb said on X.

Was asked to go to Azerbaijan for a lecture . I declined (they yuugely upped their offer, not understanding my ethics, thinking it would make a difference).

I will not set foot in Azerbaijan with Reuben Vardanyan jailed there.

— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) August 2, 2026

Nassim Nicholas Taleb is a Lebanese-American New York University professor, essayist, mathematical statistician, former options trader, risk analyst, and aphorist. 

Taleb’s first non-technical book, Fooled by Randomness, was published in 2001 and was selected by Fortune as one of the 75 smartest books known.

His second non-technical book, The Black Swan, about unpredictable events, was published in 2007. It spent 36 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder was published in November 2012, and Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life was published in February 2018.

The renowned economist visited Armenia in 2023.

Vardanyan, the former Karabakh State Minister and philanthropist, has been in Azerbaijani custody since 2023, after Baku took control of Karabakh in its September offensive. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison earlier this year on war crimes-related charges, a verdict widely viewed as a wrongful conviction following a sham trial.