Sovereignty and pipelines in the Caspian and its littoral: 'old' geopolitics in 'new' states

Abstract

The Caspian Sea and its littoral have emerged as one of the key areas in the former Soviet Union. The region experienced a fundamental change in it geopolitical landscape between 1992 and 1997, with the emergence of three newly-independent states, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to join the old littoral states Russia and Iran. The subsequent re-discovery of large hydrocarbon deposits in the region has served to complicate the developing relationships between these states, and between the region as a whole and actors from outside the region. By examining the course of two ongoing disputes between the Caspian states, over the future legal status of the sea itself, and the export of the region's oil and gas via pipelines, the evolving and complex geopolitical landscape of the Caspian region will be described. The interaction of state and non-state actors and their interests will then be analysed in an attempt to gauge the strength of these competing interests and to predict possible outcomes of this competition. However, the topic will first be introduced by a brief study of the history of modern geopolitics, and a description of the history of some of the Caspian region's own history.