Introduction

Abstract

Few areas of the former Soviet Union have been at the forefront of world politics and economy more than the Caspian Basin, which straddles Europe, the Near East and Asia. This unique geographical region, which has been identified as one of the most critical environmental zones of the former Soviet Union as early as in the 1980s, might become a major energy crossroads between Europe and Asia. Convergence of several seemingly unrelated events and trends — the emergence of newly independent states, increased energy exploration in the area and intoxicating aspirations of wealth from the vast oil and gas resources beneath the Caspian waters and shores, the eastward expansion of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the subsequent change of power balance in the region, and the rise of ethnic conflicts and civil unrest lead to intense geostrategic, political and economic competition as well as legal and ideological wrangling between numerous regional and outside actors.