Contributed articles presented in a seminar at the Centre for Russian, Central Asian, and East European Studies, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in February 1999.

Russia is the world's biggest hydrocarbon producer. China is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing energy markets. The two are neighbours. Yet their energy relationship is very thin. Instead, they compete for vast and largely unexplored Central Asian resources. As Kazakh oil and Turkmen gas start flowing to China, Russia's traditional dominance in the region is diminishing. However, the Central Asian states are not passive pawns in a new 'great game'. The EU and the US can help these countries to turn the new energy geopolitics to their advantage.

This book focuses on the geopolitics of Central Asia which has emerged as the new fertile ground for oil and energy resources. It analyses the scramble for energy and control over the region by many nations and their diplomatic manoeuvrings to ensure energy sufficiency and economic growth. The book provides a quantitative analysis of the Central Asian energy potential and offers an understanding of the unique position that each country occupies in the geopolitics of oil and energy in the region. It looks at aggressive foreign policies by countries like the US, China, the European Union, Japan, Israel, Iran and Pakistan, focusing primarily on India’s position and strategies in the region within the new great game. The book further examines the dynamics between Central Asia and India and India’s policies for geopolitical engagement and diversification of energy sources. This volume will be of interest to researchers and students of political studies, international relations, economics, sociology, and Asian studies. It will also be useful for policymakers and professionals working in the field of energy security and geo-economics.

This timely study is the first to examine the relationship between competition for energy resources and the propensity for conflict in the Caspian region. Taking the discussion well beyond issues of pipeline politics and the significance of Caspian oil and gas to the global market, the book offers significant new findings concerning the impact of energy wealth on the political life and economies of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. The contributors, a leading group of scholars and policymakers, explore the differing interests of ruling elites, the political opposition, and minority ethnic and religious groups region-wide. Placing Caspian development in the broader international relations context, the book assesses the ways in which Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey are fighting to protect their interests in the newly independent states and how competition for production contracts and pipeline routes influences regional security. Specific chapters also link regional issues to central questions of international politics and to theoretical debates over the role of energy wealth in political and economic development worldwide. Woven throughout the implications for U.S. policy, giving the book wide appeal to policymakers, corporate executives, energy analysts, and scholars alike.

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.

Could the Caspian Region replace Russia's or the Persian Gulf's immense energy potential with their energy resources? Yunis Gurbanov explores the strategic importance of the region in post-USSR Eurasian policies of major global actors, namely China, the EU, the USA, and Russia, and examines Azerbaijan's, Kazakhstan's, and Turkmenistan's oil and gas resources as alternatives to conventional suppliers. He shows that the Caspian region's resources could serve as alternative energy sources on a global level, mitigating dependence on traditional suppliers and stabilizing energy prices.

This book aims to explore how the Central Asian Republics have managed their relations with small and major powers during the 25 years following the collapse of the USSR. The authors identify and discuss the questions like: what are the Central Asian states' interests and how they are pursuing them? What are the CAR states' relationships with these powers, and what is changing? Are the great powers outsourcing policing or security responsibilities to the CAR?