| Publication |
2009.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Geopolitical rivalry in the Transcaspian region is irreducible to competition for Caspian oil and gas. Nor has the rivalry between East and West dissolved into an alliance in the "war on terror". It is part of a broader process of expansion into the former Soviet republics, particularly in Central Asia, to integrate them into competing economic, military and security structures. In this process, the Transcaspian region itself is not the ultimate object of the competition; rather, global hegemony. Thus, processes of integration appear to have been accompanied by opposite processes of containment. I propose the notion of hybrid geopolitics to explicate this dual process, examined primarily through military expansion across the continent, in the form of military aid and bases, strategic alliances, security arrangements and arms trade.
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