YELENA KALYUZHNOVA is Director of the Centre for Euro-Asian Studies and Lecturer in Economics at the University of Reading. - AMY MYERS JAFFE is Senior Energy Advisor and Research Coordinator at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. - DOV LYNCH is Lecturer in War Studies at King's College London. A former Research Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs and St Antony's College, Oxford. - ROBIN C. SICKLES is Professor of Economics at Rice University and holds Adjunct Professorships in the Statistics Department of Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine.

• Foreword; J.A. Baker III Preface List of Abbreviations Notes on the Contributors Introduction; A.M.Jaffe & E.Djerejian PART I: BREAKING NEW GROUND: CASPAIN REGION IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY Geology and Petroleum Potential; A.Belopolsky & M.Talwani Confronting Independence: Political Overview; M.B.Olcott Economies and Energy; Y.Kalyuzhnova Islam and Energy Security; M.Haghayeghi & F.R. von der Mehden PART II: REACHING A WORLD MARKET: PIPELINES, TRANSIT ROUTES AND PROCESSING PLANTS The Economics of Pipeline Routes: The Conundrum of Oil Exports from the Caspian Basin; R.Soligo & A.M.Jaffe Integration in the World Infrastructure: Oil and Gas Processing Industries in the Caspian Region; A.Kalyuzhnova, J.Lee & J.Nanay Convergent Economies: Implications for World Energy Use; R.C.Sickles & P.T.Hultberg PART III: NATIONAL INTERESTS IN THE CASPAIN BASIN Russia's National Interests in the Caspian Region; M.Margelov U.S. National Interests: Getting Beyond the Hype; J.Barnes Turkish National Interests; G.Winrow Conclusion; D.Lynch Index