... plays an independent role. The Ukrainian crisis has strengthened the status of Ankara.
Azerbaijan is another winning player. Baku maintains partnership relations with Moscow... ... developments in Ukraine. The balance of losses and gains for Georgia is not yet obvious.
Kazakhstan also plays the role of a hub for Russian business. Here, too, a significant... ... “alternate airfields” in neighbouring countries, business may well return to Russia.
Turkmenistan is likely to benefit tangibly from rising gas prices. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan...
... Turkmenistan. Until then, commerce and navigation on the Caspian were regulated by bilateral agreements between the USSR and Iran, at the time the only two coastal states bordering the Caspian, with third parties actively discouraged from use. As post-Soviet Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan joined the littoral states, they began forwarding their own interests. The success of any littoral state in pursuing its goals hinges in part on whether the Caspian is legally recognized as a sea or a lake.
Under international law, different ...
This publication includes 53 articles analysing the main development trends in the post-Soviet space – both the geopolitical region as a whole and the individual countries that make it up. The anthology consists of three sections: the first section is retrospective in nature and looks at the post-Soviet space 20 years after the collapse of the USSR; the second section analyses the current state of the former Soviet nations; and the third section provides a number of forecasts for the development...
... disagreements between the parties involved.
There have also been some positive moves towards resolving the Caspian problems. On 18 November 2010, for example, an agreement on cooperation in the field of security in the Caspian Sea was signed by the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Azerbaijan Republic, the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan. Within the framework of this agreement the different sides agreed to cooperate in fighting terrorism, organised crime, the illegal movement of weapons of any kind and of ammunition, explosives and toxic substances and military equipment,...
... mechanism for imposing a moratorium on catching sturgeon.
According to official statements, the negotiations only made headway on environmental issues (such as conserving the sturgeon population). In addition, the “Caspian Five” (Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan) reaffirmed the principle of Caspian states’ non-interference in regional affairs.
As far as I can gather, no progress has been achieved on the main problem, i.e. agreeing spheres of influence. And without that, signing the Convention ...
