Developments And Changes Of Russia’s Policy In The Caspian Region

This paper is to discuss the developments and changes of Russia’s policy in the Caspian region since the disintegration of the Soviet Union and make probes into the causes of changes of Russia’s policy in the region. The writer is of the view that Russia’s Caspian policy has gone through several stages, from concesssions to retrieve the strategic advantages and thus, strive to become a dominant power in the region.This paper tried to study the developments of Russia’s Caspian policy from three different historical periods. The first stage is Yeltsin’s era(1991-1999). In the early days of Yeltsin’s administration, Moscow initially was intent on charting a course of westernization and approached most of the Caspian region with what might be dubbed a policy of benign neglect. However, since the mid 1990 s, there was a contest between Eurasianists and pragmatic Westernizers. By the end of 1990 s, pragmatic Westernizers won an upper hand. The second stage is Putin and Medvedev’s era(2000-2011).Since Vladmir Putin took office in 2000, Russia adopted a flexible and pragmatic foreign policy and became more and more tough towards the Caspian region. Russia’s policy in the region was well reflected in the competition between energy pipeline networks which are sponsored by the US and the EU on the one hand, and Russia on the other hand. The third stage is Putin’s third term of office to date(since 2012). There have been new developments in Russia’s policy in the Caspian region and it’s noteworthy that Russia has achieved new breakthroughs in resolving the issue of the legal status of the Caspian sea during this period. Russia’s policy in the Caspian region is a maturing process. The reason behind Russia’s moves from seeking concessions to taking a tougher stance each time is that Russia cannot achieve its goal by seeking compromise and fears that its control over the Caspian region might be lost. Moreover, the agressive nature of expansion of Russian is also a reason behind Russia’s tough measure. The reason behind Russia’s moves from being tough to seeking concessions each time is that Russia was generally regarded as a declining power that it was compelled to make concessions to its western counterparts.