Research On Russian Gas Diplomacy In The Central Asia-Caspian Sea Region

From the perspective of global energy security,natural gas has become one of the central issues in the fields of economic development,energy strategy,and carbon emission reduction.The Central Asia-Caspian Sea region,which is the "heartland" of natural gas,has also become the center of gravity for natural gas competition among countries.Fierce competition among countries for control of natural gas fields and pipelines,gas energy security strategies formulated by Russia,EU,and the US,and pipeline projects have all made the Central Asia-Caspian Sea region the focus of attention of the international community.In addition,terrorism,ethnic conflicts,gas price fluctuations,energy conservation,emission reduction,climate change,and many other issues have truly become important factors affecting the development of natural gas trade in the region,and have also become a severe test for Russia's natural gas energy diplomacy.The research object is Russia's natural gas energy diplomacy in the Central Asia-Caspian Sea Region.On the basis of energy geopolitical theory and energy security theory,this paper conducts an in-depth analysis of strategy,goals,and means selection of Russia's natural gas energy diplomacy,and discusses the challenges that Russia faces and its possible strategic trends in the field.The first part is Chapter one.Start by clarifying the conceptual meaning of energy diplomacy and natural gas energy diplomacy,and draw the outline of Russia's natural gas energy diplomacy from the global and regional levels.Natural gas energy diplomacy not only has a deep ideological origin in Russia's geopolitical theory,but also occupies a pivotal position in the practice of modern Russian energy diplomacy.Then,construct a theoretical analysis framework with energy geopolitical theory as the horizontal axis and energy security theory as the vertical axisThe second part,including Chapters two and three,is an analysis of Russia's strategy,goals and means of natural gas energy diplomacy in the Central Asia-Caspian Sea region.The energy resources of the Central Asia-Caspian Sea region play a fundamental role in Russia's "Energy Strategy",and its energy processing capabilities have also been included in Russia's key energy development measures.Russia's strategy of gas diplomacy in the Central Asia-Caspian Sea region is based on regional energy,geography,politics,and economic characteristics.Russia's energy guidance policies and strategies have strong geopolitical considerations,and have separately examined the dual goals of geopolitics and energy security.The analysis of the means of realization is mainly based on the five basic characteristics of energy security(the stability of supply,the safety of transportation,the reasonableness of prices,the adequacy of reserves,and the friendliness of the political environment)for research.Russia mainly adopts six methods:First,discuss and negotiate to reach energy cooperation agreements.Second,support the actions of "Gazprom",Russia's energy interest agent in the Central Asia-Caspian Sea region,to control gas fields.Third,explore and develop jointly to monopolize the regional natural gas industry.Fourth,intervene in natural gas pipeline projects and control regional gas pipeline networks.Fifth,establish natural gas alliance to take advantage of a unified market and price.Sixth,blockade and embargo,compulsorily meet price expectations.The third part,including Chapters four and five,reviews and analyzes Russian natural gas diplomacy in the Central Asia-Caspian Sea region,and discusses its threats and future strategic trends.Russia not only gained greater control over the regional natural gas supply system,but also successfully slowed down the political and economic expansion of EU and US.Based on this,Russia also gained greater bargaining power in the global natural gas market,and improved resource power.The effectiveness of Russia's natural gas diplomacy cannot conceal its shortcomings in terms of conflicts between government and enterprises,the lack of a regional natural gas cooperation framework,and the side effects of tough measures.Therefore,measures to strengthen supervision,formulate sound regional natural gas policies,strengthen the role of the Eurasian Economic Union,deepen international cooperation,balance justice and interests,and promote regional integration are particularly important.From the perspective of energy security and using the Analytic Hierarchy Process,this part makes an analysis of Russia's energy diplomacy in the region,and discusses the three main challenges and threats Russia faces at the national,regional,and geopolitical levels,in order to have a comprehensive understanding of the current energy situation of Russia and put forward the natural gas energy strategy and diplomatic trend that Russia should adopt.This article enriches the realist paradigm in the field of energy diplomacy and promotes the further development of geopolitics through the study of the game between the social,economic principles and political power of Central Asia-Caspian countries.At the same time,research on the game of natural gas is of great significance for studying the status quo and operating laws of contemporary international relations,effectively understanding and predicting the development and changes of the world's energy structure in the future,and has practical reference significance for ensuring China's natural gas supply and energy security.