The Security of the Caspian Sea Region

Over the past decade, the Caspian Sea region has risen from relative obscurity to considerable prominence in global affairs. Its vast natural resources, oil and natural gas among them, have attracted widespread international interest since the early 1990s. The international developments in the wake of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack in the United States drew further attention to the domestic and foreign policies of the states of the Caspian region—Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—because of their close geographical proximity to Afghanistan.

It is generally accepted that the Caspian energy reserves are exceeded in size only by those of the Middle East and western Siberia. However, the access to these reserves is impeded by a wide variety of political, economic, legal and security factors. Among the many factors influencing the regional security environment are disputes among the littoral states over the Caspian Sea legal regime and the division of the Caspian Sea energy resources into national economic zones and sectors.

The stability of the region is challenged by the declining living standards of vast segments of local populations, growing inter-ethnic and inter-confessional tensions and conflicts, militant separatism, international terrorism, and the illegal trade in arms and drugs. The security of the region is also affected by the intensifying strategic competition among major outside powers over establishing their political and economic influence in regional affairs.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has undertaken a large international project to study these aspects of Caspian regional security and to explore alternative scenarios of future developments in and around the Caspian region.