The Caspian Sea Chessboard Geo Political Geo Strategic And Geo Economic Analysis

Stuck in the middle of different as well as relevant regional complexes, the Caspian Sea basin represents a critical geopolitical hub in the heart of Eurasia landmass. Political, economic as well as strategic considerations contribute to determine the systemic relevance of the Caspian Sea, whose reputation in the West is mainly linked to the vast availability of largely untapped oil and gas resources. However, behind the fierce competition aimed at the exploitation and transportation of the basin’s hydrocarbons lies a much more complex picture, consisting of interlinked legal, military and soft power issues and threats. Aim of the volume – result of a joint research project conducted by the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SAM, Baku) and the Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI, Milan) – is to address the relevance of the Caspian Sea in the post-bipolar international system, analyzing both soft and had security threats emerging form the basin, as well as the policies of littoral and extra-regional actors.

Bestselling author and eminent foreign policy scholar Zbigniew Brzezinski's classic book on American's strategic mission in the modern world. In The Grand Chessboard, renowned geostrategist Zbigniew Brzezinski delivers a brutally honest and provocative vision for American preeminence in the twenty-first century. The task facing the United States, he argues, is to become the sole political arbiter in Eurasian lands and to prevent the emergence of any rival power threatening our material and diplomatic interests. The Eurasian landmass, home to the greatest part of the globe's population, natural resources, and economic activity, is the "grand chessboard" on which America's supremacy will be ratified and challenged in the years to come. In this landmark work of public policy and political science, Brzezinski outlines a groundbreaking and powerful blueprint for America's vital interests in the modern world. In this revised edition, Brzezinski addresses recent global developments including the war in Ukraine, the re-emergence of Russia, and the rise of China.

The analysis of geopolitics and energy security policies in the Caspian region is a challenging research task. This is because of the specific development of international relations in this region and the evolution of its importance in the context of the functioning of the global energy market. Due to its special geopolitical location in central Eurasia and at the junction at the world’s largest trading routes, the region is gaining in importance, both politically and economically in contemporary international relations, and becoming a place where actors involved satisfy the need for energy security.

Once the landlocked backwater between Iran and the Soviet Union, the Caspian has in the last ten years emerged as the epicentre of vast conflicting interests in a region where massive geopolitical issues converge with enormous energy resources and dramatic latent instability. Russia's conflict in Chechnya is a direct by-product of the strategic importance of the Caspian region. _Troubled Waters_ presents a comprehensive analysis of the political and economic dynamics of the Caspian basin. It examines the area's historical evolution and the diverse issues and players in what has become a modern variant of the Great Game' of the nineteenth century. Following a historical overview of the region and its oil industries, the book analyses the domestic politics and the foreign policies of the five states bordering the Caspian- Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. It further identifies all the external interests involved in the Caspian's political rivalries and control over its resources and territory, including the US, the major European powers, various nationalist movements, Islamic militants, multi-national corporations, NGOs and international financial institutions. These features, coupled with the political and economic risk assessment of the Caspian basin which this book provides, makes this a unique contribution to our understanding of a region which is strategically positioned at the territorial juncture of Russia, China, East Asia and the Middle East.

This book explores developments in the countries of the South Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – since the EU included the region in the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2003. It considers issues related to energy, ethnic conflict, steps towards regional integration, and, above all, security – including the involvement of Russia, Iran, Turkey and the United States. It assesses the key importance of energy, argues that the prospects for regional integration are weak, and contends that while the approach of Europe and the United States has been confused and weak, not holding out great hope of EU or NATO membership, Russia’s interest and involvement in the region is strong, and growing.

This book examines why authoritarian governments are willing to address environmental problems that have an international impact, such as CO2 emissions, but are reluctant to address problems that have only a domestic impact. In a case study of Azerbaijani oil politics, it demonstrates how the incumbent Azerbaijani regime has taken important measures trying to address CO2 emissions while ignoring the damage caused by oil pollution on the Caspian coast. The book argues that resource-rich authoritarian governments are eager to join international environmental initiatives to improve their image, but they address domestic environmental issues mainly if they threaten their hold on power. This book is an important contribution to scholarship on environmental governance in the post-Soviet space, an area that is poorly researched. Therefore, it is a must-read for researchers and scholars interested in post-Soviet studies, as well as in the nexus between mineral-rich regions and how social policy is created, e.g., environment, education, and healthcare. In addition, this book will be of tremendous importance for policymakers and international organizations as it looks into the motivation of authoritarian states in the post-Soviet space for environmental measures.

Over the last few years, Turkey seems to have embraced the East again. Ankara’s closer relations with Eurasian countries go hand in hand with the global shift eastwards, towards the ever-growing and most dynamic region in the world. It is therefore the result of an increasing differentiation of Turkey’s foreign relations, driven by strategic, economic and energy interests. Stronger ties with Eurasian countries, i.e. Russia and China, are also the litmus test for the ups and downs in relations with Washington and Brussels. While Ankara still retains strong ties with the West, it is laying the groundwork to further widen its interests to the East. This report aims to analyse the multi-faceted aspects of Ankara’s Eurasian shift, highlighting the domestic drivers of Turkey’s “Eurasianism”, the interests at stake, the areas of cooperation and competition, and last but not least the implications for the EU.