The US and Its Geo-Economic Interest in the Caspian Sea Basin
Because of its geographical setting and rich energy resources, Caspian is of central interest to the United States.
Situated at the strategic crossroads of Europe and Asia, the Caspian is an area of intrinsic geopolitical importance. Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, a significant struggle for leverage, including control over Caspian oil, has taken place in the region among major powers, including Russia, Turkey, and Iran. As the only remaining superpower with global interests, the United States had a keen stake in the outcome of this contest. The Caucasus is a crucial communications route between Europe and Asia due to its role in producing and exporting the oil and gas resources of the Caspian Sea and its environs.
The Caspian Sea's vast energy wealth offers the industrialized world an indispensable new source of oil. The Caspian Basin thus has seized the attention not only of Western oil companies but also regional powers and the United States. As the global oil demand increased, the US was aware of its growing dependence on oil from the Persian Gulf. To counteract this overreliance, Washington needed to secure access to new and diverse sources of oil. While US interests in the Caspian Basin are essentially a function of the region's energy potential, Washington has geopolitical interests that magnify the need for American engagement.
Unfortunately, the United States has failed to recognize what is at stake in the struggle for oil and influence in the Caspian Sea Basin, thus contributing to the rise of a potentially dangerous security environment in the region. The US must have articulated a new, more proactive policy toward the Caspian states to promote cooperation rather than confrontation among rival powers. In the oil-rich Caspian Basin, US interests hinged around, preventing the region from being dominated by a single power: Russia.
References:
Nina Miholjcic, "Trans-Caspian International Transportation Route: a way to steadfast economic development and connectivity in the South Caucasus and Central Asia", World of Diplomacy 49 (2018), 134-140.
Michael P. Croissant, "U.S. interests in the Caspian Sea Basin", Comparative Strategy 16(4) (1997), 353-367.
Michael P. Croissant and Bülent Aras, Oil and Geopolitics in the Caspian Sea Region (1st edn, London: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999), 33.