Oil and natural gas are now acknowledged to be the
driving forces of international politics. What has not
yet been fully explored is how their delivery affects
the geopolitics of the world. Pipelines, once built,
create new diplomatic realities - some states are newly
connected, others isolated. Some states benefit
economically, others lose out. Often new energy supply
routes fall across political fault-lines, as in the case
of India and Pakistan. In the case of the former Soviet
Union, the existing pipeline network reflects an old
political reality, and causes tension between the newly
independent states and their former Russian master. With
energy demand soaring in industrialising Asia, and the
resurgence of great power rivalry, the politics and
practicalities of pipelines become central to a proper
understanding of world affairs. In this groundbreaking
book, Rafael Kandiyoti takes us along the pipeline
networks, from Kandahar to the Caspian basin, from
Ceyhan to China, and shows us how they form the
foundation of the new geopolitical order. In the
process, he demonstrates that the issue of energy supply
revolves not only on hydrocarbon resources but also on
their delivery. This is an entirely new way to view the
international politics of oil and natural gas and
therefore crucial to any explanation of the tensions
involving Central Asia, the Middle East, Russia, China
and Europe.
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