Status of the Caspian Sea Issue within the Framework of International Law: 1991–2014 years

Abstract

In the period from 1729 to 1991, two main actors, that is, the USSR and Iran, dominated the Caspian region. However, with the collapse of the USSR and the formation of three new Turkic-speaking states, the number of coastal countries increased to five. This led to the beginning of the struggle for dominance and division of the hydrocarbon resources of the Caspian. This struggle, in which many non-regional actors participated at various levels, especially the United States, EU countries, and China, further increased the geopolitical significance of the Caspian. With the collapse of the bipolar world order, the Caspian region came to the fore as the world's third largest hydrocarbon reserves in terms of energy resources, the Caspian basin turned from a bilateral into a basin of multi-vector relations. The new independent actors on the Caspian coast, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan, are land states that do not have direct access to the international ocean due to their current geopolitical position. Due to their geopolitical nature, the problems of international transportation and corridors have brought oil and gas pipelines to the forefront of the agenda of these countries. Therefore, the countries bordering the Caspian continue to perceive the status of the Caspian as a national security issue. The article analyzes and historically explores the geopolitical significance of the Caspian region within the framework of classical geopolitical theories and, in particular, covers the period after the Cold War until 2014. In this regard, both geopolitical theories and theoretical assumptions are analyzed within the framework of classical theories.