Caspian Dreams

China and the U.S. are both great powers with vast§and rapidly increasing consumption of oil. Despite§considerable domestic production, this has resulted§in a need for imports. Dependence on unstable oil§producers outside American or Chinese control is§considered by both states as an economic problem, but§more importantly as a potential threat to national§security. The book particularly emphasizes the§security aspects of this dependence, in other words§questions of energy security, which are viewed as§increasingly important by the governments of both§countries. This is a case study looking at the§policies of China and the U.S. in the Caspian Sea§region, which is an emerging (or arguably§re-emerging) oil producing region in a global§context. A considerable volume of empirical data has§been collected in order to gain an overview of these§policies. The book seeks to explain the effectiveness§and wider implications of those policies for the§countries involved, and the world, using insight from§the neorealist and neoliberal schools of§international relations.