Eurasianism and the Concept of Central Caucaso-Asia

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Eldar Ismailov and Vladimer Papava
East and the West. 327 This means that the Central Caucasus can serve as a
bridge between Central Asia, a geopolitically closed region, and the West. 328
It should be said in this context that, according to Zbigniew Brzezinski,
Azerbaijan is the most important geopolitical pivot in the geographic
continent of Eurasia. 329 The “geopolitical pivot” status 330 is determined by the
country’s geographic location and its potential vulnerability to what the
“active geostrategic players” might undertake in relation to it. The “active
geostrategic players” are the states strong and determined enough to spread
their rule beyond their limits. 331
By describing Azerbaijan as the “cork in the bottle” filled with the riches of
the Caspian Sea and Central Asia, Brzezinski stresses that: “The
independence of the Central Asian states can be rendered nearly meaningless
if Azerbaijan becomes fully subordinated to Moscow’s control.” 332
Kazakhstan is another of America’s target countries in Central Caucaso-
Asia, which is amply illustrated by the Americans’ intention to maximize
their investments there. 333
The idea of post-Soviet state independence and its strengthening, as the
linchpin of state interests for the Central Caucaso-Asian states, rule out their
327
For example, Howard Chase, “Future Prospects of Caucasian Energy and
Transportation Corridor. The Role of Caucasian Energy Corridor in European Energy
Security,” Georgian Economic Trends, No. 3 (2002), pp. 85-87; Kalicki, “Caspian Energy
at the Crossroads;” Jan H. Kalicki and Jonathan Elkind, “Eurasian Transportation
Futures,” in Jan Kalicki and David L. Goldwyn, eds., Energy and Security: Toward a
New Foreign Policy Strategy (Washington, D.C.: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 2005),
pp. 149-174; Rustam Makhmudov, “The Problem of Exporting Energy Resources from
Central Asia,” in Boris Rumer and Lau Sim Yee, eds., Central Asia and South Caucasus
Affairs: 2002 (Tokyo: Sasakawa Peace Foundation, 2002), pp. 163-188; Müller, “Energy
Development;” John Roberts, “Energy Reserves, Pipeline Routs and the Legal Regime
in the Caspian Sea,” in Gennady Chufrin, ed., The Security of the Caspian Sea Region
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 33-68; S. Frederick Starr and Svante E.
Cornell, “The Politics of Pipelines: Bringing Caspian Energy to Markets,”
SAISPHERE (2005), pp. 57-61.
328
Janatkhan Eyvazov, Bezopasnost’ Kavkaza i stabil’nost razvitia Azerbaidzhanskoi
Respubliki [Caucasian Security and Stability in the Development of the Azerbaijan
Republic] (Baku: Nurlan Publishers, 2004), p. 132.
329
Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard, p. 41.
330
Ibid.
331
Ibid. p. 40.
332
Ibid. pp. 46-47, 129.
333
Utkin, Amerikanskaia strategia dlia XXI veka, p. 105.