Its potential as a source of oil and gas for world energy markets increased international political and academic attention on the Caspian-Caucasus region. It is estimated that the Caspian oil will become the second most important source of oil for the world’s industrialised centres in the 21^st century. Furthermore the oil and gas have not only nourished hopes for a possible co-operation and the regional wealth, but also caused interstate competition and political tension between Iran, Turkey, Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and even Kazakhstan. Apart from the regional powers, the United States and some of the European powers have also shown their interest about the region. In another word the recent developments related to the energy policies have transformed the regional balance of power, and it is understood that the Caspian oil will be one of the most important factors in the regional politics. In this framework The Politics of Caspian Oil is one of the timely books recently published, incorporating essays aiming to present the result of recent research, and in the words of the editor, “in this way it aims to serve as a reference book for the politics of Caspian oil” (p. 16).

The book is divided into seven chapters. First of all, a brief but excellent introductory chapter by Bülent Gökay, the editor, provides a historical overview of the regional politics and the oil’s role in this. Gökay accepts that the massive scale of investment and activity related to the oil extraction in the Caspian rim will have a great effect on social and economic life in the region, yet he also warns about the potential dangers: “Extra-regional competition, when linked to the traditional and contemporary sources of conflict within the region, may form the basis of a dangerous system of alliances with catalytic effects” (p. 16).

Angeliki Spatharou in the second chapter focuses on the geopolitics of Caspian oil and the role of the integration of the Caspian region into world economy. For the author the region’s economic integration with the rest of the world will help to maintain regional stability. Roland Sinker in the third chapter analyses the management of the energy resource in the Caspian Sea. Sinker also provides the legal status of the resource. It can be argued that Sinker’s lengthy article is one of the rare quality studies in the subject and it would be useful for international sea law scholars as well. Sinker further discusses the future of the legal status for each of the sectors (the Iranian, Azerbaijani, Kazakh and the Russian sectors).

Avedis Bedros Hadjian focuses on Azerbaijan’s energy policy and its implications for Russian security in the fourth chapter. The author argues that the oil will have great impact on Azerbaijan’s foreign and security policies yet Azerbaijan will not be a second Kuwait. The author further defends that both Russia and the United States aim to dominate the region, and the control of Azerbaijan’s pipelines will secure leadership in the Caspian region. It should be noted that Hadjian opens new dimensions in the subject and his article is one of those, that cannot be ignored by the Caspian region researchers. Chapter five is Jean-Christophe Peuch’s study and examines the private and national interests in the Caspian region. Peuch points out that the interests of oil companies were of little concern to the Kremlin, and the Russian foreign ministry has attempted to preserve its political hegemony in the region instead of maximising country’s economic interests. One of the most interesting and useful studies is Kamer Kasım’s “The Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict, Caspian Oil and Regional Powers” as it clearly connects the relations between the competition among the regional powers (Russia, Turkey and Iran) for controlling Caspian resources and regional stability with the case study of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Surprisingly there have been not many studies regarding to the Nagorno-Karabakh problem and the regional powers’ role on it. This study tries to fill this gap and also open the energy related policy dimension.

Andrew Towner’s study in the final chapter shed lights to the reasons of the Chechen conflict emphasising the importance of the regional oil resources in the Russian decision to invade Chechenya. Towner in his informative and short article argues that the Russian security concerns towards the region cannot be examined without referring to its regional energy policies.

The Politics of Caspian Oil, one of the first studies on Caspian oil and its impact on the regional policies in the post-Cold War era in English language, it is one of the must readings for the Caspian studies. The book draws a realistic picture of the regional politics, and provides a critical analysis of the problems. The format of the study is extremely consistent which makes it easy to use. The articles are generally focused and thought-provoking, supported by a wealth of original data. My only reservation concerning the book is that it should have given more details on Georgia’s, Iran’s and Turkmenistan’s policies about the Caspian oil since these actors cannot be ignored when examining the other actors’ role in the region. Nevertheless the scope of the book covered and the importance of the subject itself make this book one of the key texts in the field.