The New Great Game: Blood and Oil in Central Asia

Book Description

The Caspian Sea contains the world's largest amount of untapped oil and gas resources. It is estimated that there might be as much as 100 billion barrels of crude oil in the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan alone. Using the concept of the "Great Game" that Rudyard Kipling immortalized in his novel Kim, Lutz Kleveman has discovered a New Great Game raging in the region, a modern variant of the 19th century clash of imperial ambitions of Great Britain and czarist Russia. Only this time the stakes are higher. Desperate to wean itself from dependence on the powerful OPEC cartel, the United States is now pitted in a struggle against Russia and China, as all three nations compete for dominance in the Caspian region and access to its resources and pipeline routes. Complicating the playing field are transnational energy corporations with their own agendas and brash new entrepreneurs who have taken control after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Based on extensive research and travel in the regions, The New Great Game is a gripping narrative and a savvy analysis of the power struggle for the world's remaining energy resources.

Customer Reviews:

A Unique Perspective.......2007-02-15

Not being an expert on central Asia or U.S. oil policy, I can't comment on whether the author has all his facts straight. But he makes an excellent case that the U.S. may well be headed for deep kimchi in Asia and the Middle East with hubristic actions and attitudes. And I disagree that the average person will get as much from the newspaper as in this book. Kleveland provides a comprehensive overview of the what key people in the region are thinking about U.S. oil policy there, with lucid insight about oil politics in Russia, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan and other nations with a stake in Caspian sea oil. Since the author writes about his personal experiences as he visits key politicians, war lords and power brokers in many of these countries, the reader gets a bird's eye view of what may "really" be going on in the minds of leaders there. This perspective is unique, and one gets the sense that the truth is being told. It's not something you hear on the nightly news, and it's not pretty. The writing is exceptional - the book is hard to put down.

Excellent writing, well researched, very relevant.......2006-06-05

Lutz Kleveman's book "The New Great Game" explores the exciting world of money, oil, war, and political intrigue that is modern Central Asia. The title is a reference to the grandiose chess-like struggle between Russia and Britain for control over Central Asia in the 19th century, where possession of bountiful, empire-making India was at stake. In that time period, rogues and renegades, politicians and emmisaries, viceroys and emirs all charted out an extravagant drama that contributed immeasurably to the course of history. Kleveman argues "The Great Game" is far from over: there are new players and new stakes in the New Great Game of the 21st century.

Interviewing everyone from oilmen to military commanders to revolutionary leaders to madrassa students, Klevemen unravels a huge, complex net of motivations and intents that underlie the beehive of political and military activity that buzzes over Central Asia. It effectively digs beneath the veneer that is presented to us by the media which obscures the happenings of the region: true, there is a war on terror in the area, true, Muslim fundamentalism is a factor there. However, the everyday layman usually knows very little beyond this sensationalistic coverage from news outlets, and this does little justice to activity in Central Asia which may, as with the original Great Game, seriously determine the course of history. Looking back in time, we acknowledge soberly that economic factors have been one of the most enduring, reliable, and strong influences in determining historical events. The quest for tea, spices, and opium drove colonialization. Industrialization marks one of the most jarring technological shifts to have ever occured to mankind. Today, current events often is discussed in the language of globalization. However, it is very easy to forget that economics remains the preeminent determinant and that current events often have economic motivations that loom over ideological ones. Kleveman's book is superb in that it brings us back to this vital understanding.

New Great Game players like Iran, China, Russia, and the United States are poised to stake their claims on the world's last fronteir in oil reserves in Central Asia, and geopoltically, Central Asia is where the these powers' spheres of influence converge. A cultured awareness of the political, military, and economic undertakings that are being carried out in this area right now, and an understanding of the historical consequences of these events will make a person a more informed global citizen. Kleveman's "The New Great Game" is an excellent place to start in seeking this awareness.

Plus ça change..........2006-02-25

In the past Great Game, canny potentates, shahs and princes played Tsarist Russia and Imperial Britain one off the other through a series of proxy wars, treaties, and backdoor politicking that went on well into the twentieth century. Now, although the sun has set on the British Raj, the stakes are higher, and Russia and her "federation" continue to wheedle and deal, this time with oil as the prize. New players, namely the US and China, have stepped into the fray, and the Game has escallated into more than just a few stray spies skulking through the Hindu Kush.

Kleveman rightly sees the area of the Stans as being the new center of the world. He takes us through areas previously behind the Stalinist iron curtain--and fast becomming the Islamist curtain--to storied "countries", their people and leaders, and the iron grip that the past still imposes on the present. It's thrilling reading, and sobering, too. If politics and economics move too fast to make this book current in ten years, it will still maintain its place as one the best overviews of the central Asian geopolitical scene available to the lay reader in English.

Travelogue on Central Asia, Oil, and Conflict.......2006-02-04

Reading this book is an easy way to learn about Central Asia through the first-hand impressions of an intrepid journalist. Lutz Kleveman travels through dangerous countries, interviews ministers, ambassadors, and business executives, and also gathers impressions from men and women in the street. The themes of this narrative center on the rich oil and natural gas resources of the region, the prevalence of corruption, bad government, and ethnic tension, and the conflicting strategic interests of the US, Russia, China, and Iran.

The narrative starts on a depressing note. Kleveman visits Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, where he finds that "upscale boutiques and picturesque minarets...cannot mask the strong stench of oil, that never dissipates, day or night." US firms hope to build a pipeline to Turkey, but political instability looms as a risk. The Azeris still seeth over the loss of Karabakh in the mid-90s war with Armenia, and Kleveman finds proud nationalists who advocate war to seize back the region.

Georgia is truly discouraging. Once the most beautiful of Caucasian cites, Tblisi now exudes at best a "moribund charm." The author discovers that "corruption and nepotism have reached catastrophic levels, destroying the country and society at almost every level." Kleveman tours Abkhazia, which he finds heavily garrisoned by Russian soldiers as a potential blocking move against Western-sponsored pipeline projects. The author visits with Chechnyan refugees in Ingushetia and hears nightmarish accounts of violence, chaos, and corruption in Chechnya.

On a more positive note, a side trip to Kashgar in China's Xinjiang province finds that Uighurs (indigenous Muslims) are benefiting from improved living standards in the booming economy, although ethnic tensions with Han Chinese persist. And Kazakhstan seems poised to benefit from the immense Kashagan and Tengiz oil fields, which between them may contain in excess of 50 billion barrels of crude. Kleveman wonders how much of this will trickle down to the people, the majority of whom live in poverty.

In Afghanistan, he finds disenchantment with the US. A tribal soldier tells him, "We Afghans know very well that the Americans did not come here to help us - they are here because they need Afghanistan to get access to the oil and gas at the Caspian Sea." As one might expect, anti-Americanism is rampant in Pakistan's tribal territories. Kleveman interviews a retired Pakistani general, the former US ambassador, and a senior leader of the country's Islamicist party. Surprisingly Kleveman reports pro-Western sentiment in Iran, where he senses that the revolution has discredited fundamental Islam in the people's eyes. But Iranian hopes for a pipeline to the Tengiz field in Kazakhstan run aground against US sanctions, which no oil firm dares break.

Kleveman ends the book with what some will take to be an anti-American diatribe. He argues that "American arrogance of power will not fail to affect relations" with the countries of the region, which now suspect that "the Bush administration [is] using its war against terror in Central Asia to seal the American Cold War victory against Russia, to contain Chinese influence, and to tighten the noose around Iran." He senses a huge change in perception of the US, which was "admired and loved" in the aftermath of the Cold War, but whose policies are now perceived as "arrogant, aggressive, and outright imperialist." He worries that "the region's impoverished populaces, disgusted with the United States' alliances with their corrupt and despotic rulers, [will] increasingly embrace militant Islam and virulent anti-Americanism."

Whether the reader agrees with Kleveman's conclusions or not, one has to respect his fieldwork. For those interested in this poorly understood but strategically important region of the world, the book provides useful data and impressions.

Old Game New Spoils.......2006-01-06

The Central Asia region, symbolically centered on the vast raw material resources in and around the Caspian Sea, was the subject of the "Great Game" struggle of colonial times, during which Russia and England spent generations trying to extend their influence into this mysterious, inaccessible, and often lawless region. In recent years, Central Asia has again been thrown into a battle among far greater powers, due to the international drive for new supplies of fossil fuels and the war against terrorism. The United States has taken England's place in machinations with the Russians, while the emerging regional powers of Iran and China are becoming involved, with everyone trying to extend their political influence in the region and to secure energy supplies. In this book Lutz Kleveman utilizes the historical concept of a "New Great Game" to describe how Central Asia is again looming large in the world's strategic geopolitics (and petropolitics). Kleveman's conceptions of a "New Great Game" are reasonably effective, but this background argument operates only as a rather thin shell around a travel diary and short-term war reporting.

Kleveman definitely traveled to many intriguing and downright dangerous locations while researching the book. He met with opposition leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan, dictators and demagogues in the former Central Asian Soviet Republics (including the bizarre personality cult in Turkmenistan and the shamefully overlooked human rights violators of U.S. ally Uzbekistan), and oil company plutocrats in Azerbaijan and Russia. Kleveman also took very intriguing forays into the not-so-axis-of-evil stability of Iran, and the obscure Uighur lands of Western China. Kleveman's politically-inclined travelogues to these dangerous or inaccessible trouble spots is highly reminiscent of the works of Robert D. Kaplan, though frankly Kaplan is better at it and has a keener eye for geopolitical realities. Overall, Kleveman misses many opportunities for larger informative insights, especially in the way he merely alludes to the true economic goals of the superpowers as they claim to be combating terrorism and stabilizing nations. Kleveman starts with some pretty believable arguments on these matters but fails to really support them with corroborating evidence. This is especially true in the book's problematic epilogue, in which Kleveman finally attempts to deliver the grand geopolitical and economic insights that he had been leading up to throughout his travel reporting, but unfortunately comes across as a rather opinionated second-guesser. [~doomsdayer520~]

The Caspian Pipeline Dilemma: Political Games and Economic Losses

Average customer rating:

The Caspian Pipeline Dilemma: Political Games and Economic Losses
Hooman Peimani
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Policy & Current Events | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Development & Growth | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Economic Policy & Development | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Exports & Imports | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

International | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Oil & Energy | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Finance | New & Used Textbooks | Stores | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0275970922

Book Description

The Caspian Sea region is rich in oil and natural gas and can potentially become a major energy supplier. Despite the interest of the three Caspian countries of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, their energy resources have remained mainly undeveloped a decade after their independence. The main factor that has prevented the full development of the Caspian energy resources has been the difficulty of selecting long-term safe, reliable, and economically viable export routes. The three landlocked Caspian countries have no choice but to depend on their neighbors to access international waters for their exports. For many reasons, including internal stability and extensive oil facilities and pipelines, Iran offers the most suitable routes to all three Caspian countries. However, despite the interest of the Caspian energy-exporters, in using this route, the U.S. policy of containment of Iran has prevented them from doing so. For political, economic, and security reasons, the existing in-use Georgian and Russian routes cannot and will not be a long-term solution for energy exports. The insistence of the American government on imposing the expensive and unreliable Turkish route on the reluctant Caspian energy-exporters and its categorical rejection of the Iranian route have created a major obstacle to the development of the Caspian energy industries. As Peimani suggests, if this policy continues, many oil and gas exporters will opt for the Iranian route without regard to existing U.S. punitive legislation. The results could well be the isolation of the U.S. in the Caspian region and a gradual exclusion of American oil companies from the region. This overview will be of interest to scholars, researchers, and policymakers involved with economic and political issues of the region.

Crude Politics : How Bush's Oil Cronies Hijacked the War on Terrorism

Average customer rating:

Opens Your Eyes as to Why!
Worrying revelations
Crude Politics: Biased journalist
A little oil on the side never hurts.
Informative View of Oil and Politics

Crude Politics : How Bush's Oil Cronies Hijacked the War on Terrorism
Paul Sperry
Manufacturer: Thomas Nelson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Terrorism | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Infiltration: How Muslim Spies and Subversives have Penetrated Washington
Crude Awakenings: Global Oil Security and American Foreign Policy
Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq And The Future Of The Dollar
Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude
Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil

ASIN: 0785262717

Book Description

In Crude Politics, Paul Sperry presents alarming evidence that the Bush administration diplomats resumed talks with Pakistani officials over gas and oil pipelines in Afghanistan while the United States was still reeling from the horror of September 11, 2001.

Paul Sperry contends that, true to America's energy-based foreign policy of the last half-century, the Bush administration seized the opportunity to use the attacks as reason to oust the Taliban-the major obstacle blocking plans for the precious pipelines linking Caspian reserves to hot Asian markets. With journalistic integrity and painstaking research, Sperry will enlighten readers on:

How commercial gain within the current oil-friendly administration has undermined our nation's war on terror.
How our safety has been jeopardized because of an overriding effort to charge ahead with a new "Silk Road" through Afghanistan, making the capture of Osama bin Laden a secondary concern.
The nature of war and the politics behind the major decisions being made in the current administration, including those regarding Iraq and other "axis of evil" countries.
Crude Politics also pulls back the veil on Bush's behind-scenes operator for regime change in both Afghanistan and Iraq -- former energy consultant Zal Khalilzad.

Customer Reviews:

Opens Your Eyes as to Why!.......2006-07-22

Great non-partisan examination about how the Bush administration oil barons have used the power of the military and politics in an attempt to put some stability in governments near the Caspian Sea for its huge untapped oil reserves. The huge oil companies will not make the investments in that region until the governments are more cooperative and trustworthy. The oil reserves are bigger than ever imagined and industrial leaders in China and India are desperate for this supply. The evidence is factual and well documented. I serve in state government so this book has been critical to gain a better understanding of the actual motives for war. This is highly recommended for a business person, government person, or interested citizen

Worrying revelations.......2004-06-08

Like a lot of people all over the world, we wondered why the U.S. needed to go to war (and with the wrong country) when Europe had dealt with its terror problems in the past (I.R.A., E.T.A., Algerian separatists, Red Brigade etc.,) through old-fashioned police-work, choking off finance, intelligence gathering and arrests. We (allies and non-allies alike) also weren't buying the 'WMD's on every corner' and 'links with U.B.L. and terror' thing either. It was all a bit too flimsy, and the reasons for war changed every month as the prior ones got picked to shreds.

So rather than being an ill-informed 'Bush-basher', I devoured books by the barrow load (including this one) to try to get to the bottom of it all. The sources all seem to check out (I looked up several) and there doesn't seem to be any 'selective interpretation' of the facts either.

But as any good journo would tell you, cross-check your facts! I recommend you also read:
Owen Harries - 'Benign or Imperial?'
Noam Chomsky - 'Hegemony or survival' (I know his politics are left of centre, but that doesn't entirely invalidate some facts and insights he gives)
George Soros - The bubble of American Supremacy'
Clyde Prestowitz - 'Rogue Nation'
Greg Palast - 'The best democracy money can buy' (requires some filtering - he ocassionally draws too long a bow)
Bob Woodward - 'Plan of Attack'

Balance these against books from 'the right', but avoid the literary 'Genghis Khan is a wimp' types (I.E. Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter et al).

This president has changed your country from being one of the most sympathised with post 9-11, to THE most hated nation on the planet. If you want to know why, read this book and the others, and don't swallow that rubbish about 'it's because they envy our democracy and freedom' etc. Scandinavia has the same freedoms and an arguably higher standard of living than the U.S. yet doesn't have a tenth the problems.

I urge you to read this book and others before you vote - it's a real eye-opener.

Crude Politics: Biased journalist.......2004-03-11

Though I'm somewhat impressed with the author's access to facts, I'm dismayed at his illogical use of them. Anyone in this country who depends on trucks, that transport food and all consumer goods and necessities, ought to be concerned with the price we pay for gasoline in this country. If we allowed the terrorists to control the production of middle eastern oil, I hope anyone who votes against President Bush, will be happy paying somewhere around $6-8.00 per gallon of gasoline. A vote for J. Kerry will do that to us. Remember these words.

A little oil on the side never hurts........2003-10-21

Crude Politics is one of the better books I've read or heard about in this time of political unrest. I was first drawn to it because of the author's position;

"Paul Sperry is the Washington bureau chief at WorldNetDaily.com, a position he previously held at Investor's Business Daily, where he wrote for 12 years. A Hoover Institution media fellow, his reports on national security issues have been picked up by virtually every major news agency in the world. Sperry's journalistic courage and integrity are backed by years of experience, including extensive reporting and editing on national affairs, economics, manufacturing, real estate, and general business coverage." - WorldNetDaily.com website.

For those who haven't visited the site, WorldNetDaily.com website is usually a very right-wing news group, often posting stories that support a right-wing agenda.

The position of the author is important because he says in his book that he voted republican in the last few elections and even for now President Bush. The website also reinforces how conservative this reporter is by recounting Sperry's 1999 clash with President Bill Clinton on questions over the "Chinagate" fund-raising scandal that led him to be banned from the White House for the duration of the presidency.

So why then has this author written a book denouncing the Bush administration's agenda on the war on terror? Has he flipped sides? Hardly. He is just one of many who have growing concerns that the legitimate war on terror has been hijacked to serve the personal, economic interests of a few oil barons.

Sperry gives a great deal of attention not to Iraq (as this book was being written at the time the US was just about to invade Iraq), but to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia; three countries that have been working to secure an oil and natural gas pipeline in the Caspian Basin for over a decade. Sperry shows how the Bush administration transformed the war on terror as an "in" to this same pipeline deal that will prove to be one of the world's most wealthy oil and natural gas sources.

For those who claim that Bush and his administration are only concerned with the American public's safety, this book will enlighten them that, although they may indeed care about us, they care more about their pocket-books and long-term oil ventures.

Why would people like Bush, who comes from a long line of oil men, who have many decades of strong allegiances with Saudi oil men, suddenly stop all pursuits of oil, just to serve the American public for a few years? Why would Vice President Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton, one of the biggest oil contractors in the world, suddenly ignore the prospect of buried oil treasures overseas? And why would national security advisor Condoleezza Rice trash a decade of serving the Chevron Corp (who liked her work so much they named an oil tanker after her) just to fight some terrorists?

It doesn't add up. These people have oil coursing through their veins, and to suggest they've given it all up on purely moral grounds is like saying I don't need air to breathe anymore.

Sperry's book is a must for those seeking a solid investigation of the war on terror and its obvious ties to oil. Unlike most of the political books littering the shelves today, Paul Sperry presents a thoughtful and non-fanatical approach that asks simple questions to subjects that have been spun by our Commander in Chief and his oil-soaked cronies.

Informative View of Oil and Politics.......2003-10-12

This book was an amazing indictment of the Bush administration's foreign policy. Basically, the book detailed numerous linkages between the oil industry and the administration's war or terror and then made conclusions that the war on terror has really been driven by oil politics rather than by national security policies. This is a fascinating inside look at the politics of power and money.

When a book like this makes such an indictment against a present administration, indictments that have largely been ignored by the main-stream media, I think it is important to rigorously check the references and sources listed in the book. As such, I actually followed some of the author's (Paul Sperry) sources and came to the conclusion that he was extremely detailed in his source information and documentation.

Book Description

The impact of oil and oil-related interests on economic, social and political conditions and development for the next century holds implications that reach from the Caspian heartland to the world's most distant shores. This book is the first attempt to present an exhaustive overview of the origins and development of the Caucaso-Caspian oil and gas industry. The commercial role of oil in the light of world market developments is related to its political value in the eyes of local Azerbaijani, Turkmen, Kazakh powerbrokers as well as their Russian, Turkish, European and American counterparts.

Caspian Energy Resources: Implications for the Arab Gulf States

Average customer rating:

Caspian Energy Resources: Implications for the Arab Gulf States
Emirates Center for Strategic Studies
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Natural Resources | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Oil & Energy | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Troubled Waters: The Geopolitics of the Caspian Region

ASIN: 1850433836

Book Description

This book explores the various dimensions of Caspian energy, ranging from contentious pipeline issues to the impact of Caspian oil on Gulf producers, OPEC member states, and global markets. Although the future impact of Caspian energy is yet to be determined, this volume offers valuable insight and comprehensive analysis on the major determinants affecting this strategically significant oil-rich region.

Energy and Conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus

Average customer rating:

The best source on Central Asia oil policy

Energy and Conflict in Central Asia and the Caucasus
Robert Ebel
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | International | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Natural Resources | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Oil & Energy | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Engineering | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Central Asian Security: The New International Context
Troubled Waters: The Geopolitics of the Caspian Region
The New Central Asia: The Creation of Nations
A History of Inner Asia
Central Asia's Second Chance

ASIN: 0742500624

Book Description

Examining the interplay between Caspian security and energy development, this comprehensive book offers important new findings about the relationship between competition for energy resources; political and economic development in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan; and the propensity for conflict in the Caspian region. The contributors, a leading group of scholars and policymakers, also explore the ways in which Russia, China, Iran, and Turkey are fighting to protect their energy interests in the newly independent states and how this rivalry influences regional security and U.S. policy.

Customer Reviews:

The best source on Central Asia oil policy.......2007-01-04

For those who want to understand why Central Asia has been fought over in recent history Rajan Menon provides an invaluable tool. This book goes region by region utilizing the best authors in each. The book covers the individual countries in the Caspian regions as well as the future prospects for Russian and OPEC interaction there. It clearly lays out how the region has been developing and although a little dated at this point it still provides an excellent foundation. The authors that contribute are the best in their fields and Menon organizes the book very well. Highly recommend if you are interested in oil policy.

American Oil Diplomacy in the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea

Average customer rating:

Welcome Volume on Geopolitics of Oil and Gas

American Oil Diplomacy in the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea
Gawdat Bahgat
Manufacturer: University Press of Florida
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Public Policy | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Oil & Energy | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0813026393

Customer Reviews:

Welcome Volume on Geopolitics of Oil and Gas.......2006-06-15

Brenda Shaffer, from Harvard's Caspian Studies Department, stated that energy will be a defining issue in international relations in the twentieth-first century, yet few political scientists have tackled the geopolitics of oil and gas. Bahgat's welcome addition to this short list will be of special interest to policymakers and journalists. His study examines trends in the global energy market, focusing on the U.S. strategy for global energy security, and Washington's relations with Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea region states. The overview chapters are particularly valuable to assign to students, who will also benefit from the book's excellent glossary.

Some observations on the book: Bahgat's important contention that "independence, not dependence, is the cornerstone of today's global energy markets" underscores why U.S. policies aim to ensure not only U.S. energy security but also global energy supplies. It also highlights why supply interruptions affect not just specific consumers but cause global price hikes.

Another important point is that Iran and a number of other Middle East states do not allow foreign oil companies to have a real stake in production and infrastructure projects. This, more than U.S. sanctions, has proven a barrier to foreign investment in the Iranian energy sector.

This reviewer disagrees, however, with the author's contention that Azerbaijan chose to export its oil on an east-west pipeline (Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan) as a result of U.S. pressure. Actually, Baku never seriously pondered exporting its main strategic resource through Iran.

Bahgat correctly points out the gradual erosion of Saudi Arabia's surplus oil production capacity and notes how its absence greatly affects the dynamics of today's world oil market.

He often highlights the discrepancy in estimates of oil reserves, a matter researchers should bear in mind. In fact, there are few independent estimates on oil and gas reserves, so all reports should be used judiciously.

In some of the chapters on specific regions, such as Iraq and the Caspian region, the author's attempts to keep the text up to date actually hurt their shelf life. For instance, the book discusses the merits and disadvantages of the various pipeline options for export of oil from Azerbaijan while the debate on the main export pipeline was determined with the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline to open for operations in late 2005. In addition, the book discusses the merits of different policy scenarios toward Iraq under Saddam.

Average customer rating:

Azerbaijan, Oil and Geopolitics
Cynthia Croissant
Manufacturer: Nova Science Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Production & Operations | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Oil & Energy | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

The Economics and Politics of Oil in the Caspian Basin: The Redistribution of Oil Revenues in Azerbaijan and Central Asia (Central Asia Research Forum)

Average customer rating:

The Economics and Politics of Oil in the Caspian Basin: The Redistribution of Oil Revenues in Azerbaijan and Central Asia (Central Asia Research Forum)
Boris; Najman
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Exports & Imports | Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Oil & Energy | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Book Description

P The Caspian Basin region has boomed since the late 1990s due to new oil discoveries, new pipelines that have diversified countries' transport options and world oil prices that have risen from below $10 in 1998 to $70 in 2006. /P P This book analyzes the experience of the Caspian countries during the oil boom. It is founded on empirical studies, using either macroeconomic tools or an analysis of public budgets, or microeconometric analysis of household survey data or fieldwork in oil-producing regions. Moving from aggregated to disaggregated analysis and, in-keeping with its emphasis on rigorous empirical analysis to the greatest extent possible, several chapters are written by specialists on the Caspian region. Whilst there is an emphasis on the economic consequences of the oil boom, the interdisciplinary aspects of the phenomenon are also recognized. Overall, the analysis is firmly rooted in the region, yet the empirical studies also provide a basis for drawing broader lessons about the effects of an oil boom. /P

Implementation of U.S. Policy on Caspian Sea Oil Exports: Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate

Average customer rating:

Implementation of U.S. Policy on Caspian Sea Oil Exports: Hearing Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate

Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books