1998/01/01 by Roberta T. Manning, Amy Myers Jaffe · 1 citation
Energy · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Global Energy Security and Policy #Economic Sanctions and International Relations #Natural Resources and Economic Development #Geopolitics #Persian #Politics #Political science #Foreign policy #Middle East #Resource (disambiguation) #Oil reserves #International trade #Economy #Development economics #Business #Economics #Law #Petroleum
paper · doi:10.1080/713660015
openalex publication_date 1998/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
The current fixation with the Caspian Basin's alleged resource bonanza is exaggerating the region's commercial and strategic significance, distorting US foreign-policy calculations and raising the risk of unnecessary contention with other actors, particularly Russia and Iran. The Caspian Basin's oil reserves are significant, but logistic, economic and political hurdles will prevent their speedy development. For the foreseeable future, the Persian Gulf will remain a cheaper, easier and more secure alternative. Rather than focusing on the Caspian 'Great Game', policy-makers should give more careful consideration to the growing ramifications of East Asia's burgeoning dependence on Persian Gulf oil for global security.