Globalization, regionalization and society in the Caspian Sea Basin

All states of the Caspian look at different security and political alliances to address their concerns and interests. Emerging disputes over the oil fields made the states to search for consensus at the level of sub-regional multilateralism on the legal status of the Caspian, which reflected complexities and divergence of their interests. Coercive policies of the regional powers, such as Russia’s war in Georgia, geographically limited security options (Kazakhstan), richness with resources and developing political identities affected directions of cooperation and integration. Strengthened by the powerful vested interests, energy cooperation was so far the most effective one in the Caspian. It was promoted by the energy security interests of the ruling elites of the Caspian states, regional and international organizations, global powers and transnational corporations. Broader political cooperation, which is limited by geographic conditions and selectivity of ruling elites, is increasingly overcome by the non-state actors, who have been struggling with the autocrats empowered by the oil revenues and lack of incentive, support and investment from the leading democratic states, prioritizing energy interests in the Caspian. The utilization of the modern communication technologies such as internet and social networks by the civil and non-state actors, in particular after the events of the Arab spring, alters the focus from sub-regional to regional and global cooperation and empowers the civil actors, making them even in the conditions of the oil-based economies, emerge as the alternative leading forces in democratization and integration in the global processes

Civil society · Democracy · Democratization · Economic system · Economics · Economy · Globalization · Incentive · Market economy · Multilateralism · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Economic Sanctions and International Relations · Global Energy Security and Policy · Law · Russia and Soviet political economy

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