The Role of Pipeline Projects in Caspian Region Geopolitics and Geoeconomics

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, many countries including five Turkish Republics gained independence in the Caspian Region. Because of its rich hydrocarbon reserves, the Caspian Region became the focus of regional and global powers. The global and regional actors struggled to enhance their influence over the geography where these resources are located and over the routes that these resources are transported to international markets to increase their energy supply security by pipelines. In this paper, the role of pipeline projects in Caspian Region geopolitics and geoeconomics was analyzed. For this aim, international power struggle over hydrocarbon resources in Caspian Region was investigated. “The new great game”, which started as a result of the power struggle among the regional and global actors to fill the power vacuum created by the withdrawal of the Soviet Union from Eurasia, was evaluated. Pipeline projects, which were developed to transport Caspian Region hydrocarbon resources to international markets such as the Nabucco, Baku-Tiflis-Ceyhan, Baku-Tiflis-Erzurum, Central Asia- China, South Stream, and Kazakhstan-China were analyzed. It is expected that oil pipeline projects will continue to be strategic elements in Caspian Region geopolitics and geoeconomics. It is estimated that geopolitical importance of hydrocarbon-rich countries and countries on transportation routes will increase.