Azerbaijan is a country whose Muslim majority is divided almost equally between Shiite and Sunni communities. Faced with the risk of inter-faith tensions, particularly in the context of the wars in Iraq/Syria in the 2010s, the State has actively promoted inter-religious dialogue and made tolerance a quasi-official ideology. Meetings between representatives of religious communities are organised on a regular basis, the similarities between religions are highlighted in official literature (particularly in the case of the relationship between Shiism and Sunnism) and understanding between communities is celebrated with great pomp and ceremony. This policy appears to be effective, as Azerbaijan has not experienced any major religious conflicts despite the favourable conditions. However, it should be borne in mind that tensions, hatred and misunderstandings are not absent: they are not expressed publicly because of the authoritarian nature of the Azerbaijani state. In fact, some communities seem to have no relationship with each other other than that of ignorance and contempt. This reveals the top-down nature of a policy of inter-religious dialogue, entirely organised and led by the State, which does not encourage the development of an independent and vigorous civil society. If the aim of such a policy is to prevent the expression of 'radical', 'extremist' opinions, i.e. those that are potentially dangerous for society and the State, we maintain, on the contrary, that it is the lack of initiative left to civil society that prepares the seeds for future tensions between religious communities. The aim here is to identify, on the basis of a specific case study, the obstacles to transforming society through interfaith dialogue. Our hypothesis is that such a policy cannot work unless civil society is guaranteed the capacity to organise and express itself independently.