Faultlines of Conflict in Central Asia and the South Caucasus
Faultlines of Conflict in Central Asia and the South Caucasus

Author: Olga Oliker

Publisher: Rand Corporation

Published: 2003-04-02

Total Pages: 409

ISBN-13: 0833048341

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In the region of Central Asia and South Caucasus, what is the potential for armed conflict, and how might such outbreaks escalate to a level that could involve U.S. forces? The authors evaluate the key political, economic, and societal faultlines underlying the likelihood of conflict in the region, assessing their implications for regional stability and for U.S. interests and potential involvement over the next 10 to 15 years.

Energy and Conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus
Energy and Conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus

Author: Robert Ebel

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Published: 2000-11-28

Total Pages: 277

ISBN-13: 0742578321

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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.

Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia
Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia

Author: Rajan Menon

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-07-01

Total Pages: 256

ISBN-13: 1315501724

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This comprehensive exploration of the international environment examines not only traditional political-military concerns but also economic, ethnic, and environmental issues and the role of crime, terrorism, the drug trade, and migration in the security environment of Russia and its neighbours to the south. This approach takes account of both the internal and external aspects of security problems and their interplay. The participation of international authors facilitates the consideration of each problem from all relevant points of view.

Crossroads and Conflict
Crossroads and Conflict

Author: Gary K. Bertsch

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-10-08

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 113668445X

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The world's second largest reserves of petroleum lie beneath the land-locked Caspian Sea, making the Caucasus of vital importance to both regional and global economic and security interests. This book brings together experts from the US, Russia and the Caucasus to examine the issues of conflict, foreign policy tradeoffs, and security in the region. It takes into account the geopolitical factors, Western and Russian involvement, and the interaction between domestic and external pressures. Crossroads and Conflict looks at the challenges faced by these countries and examines the possibilities for future peace and prosperity in the region.

U.S. Military Engagement with Transcaucasia and Central Asia
U.S. Military Engagement with Transcaucasia and Central Asia

Author: Stephen Blank

Publisher: Strategic Studies Institute

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 52

ISBN-13:

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The Clinton administration has proclaimed a strategy to engage and enlarge the democratic community of states. By virtue of their strategic location adjacent to Russia, the Middle East, and Europe s periphery, and their large-scale oil and natural gas deposits, Transcaucasia and Central Asia have become important testing grounds of this strategy. The U.S. goal of irrevocably integrating these states into the Western state system economically, politically, and militarily has made them an intensifying focus of international rivalry with Russia. Moscow still perceives these areas as part of its sphere of interest and deeply resents U.S. engagement there. Furthermore, Moscow's current war with the breakaway province of Chechnya demonstrates its willingness to contest expanding U.S. interests forcefully. Moreover, in this region many factors exist that could cause other conflicts. Accordingly, it is a sensitive place to test the strategic rationale of the engagement strategy and its military corollary, a strategy whose goal is to shape the emerging environment in directions that we wish to see. This monograph contributes to the debate that has just begun and which undoubtedly will last for a long time over what our strategy for the new states should be and how it should be carried out.