The Caspian Region, lying south of Russia, west of China and north of Afghanistan, contains the world's largest untapped oil and gas resources. As much as 100 billion barrels of crude oil and 40 per cent of the world's global gas reserves can be found in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Since the fall of communism, politicians and multi-national companies have struggled to possess and develop these resources.
In his penetrating new book, Lutz Kleveman reveals that there is a new "Great Game" being played out in the region, a modern variant of the nineteenth-century clash of imperial ambitions between Britain and Russia, but with higher stakes. Desperate to wean itself from dependence on the OPEC cartel, the United States is now pitted in a struggle with Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Iran - most of which are nuclear powers - for dominance of the Caspian's fabulous energy reserves and its pipeline routes.
