Pipelines Politics in Central Asia

Central Asia has become an important region in post cold war era. Rising energy demands in Asia & Europe has turned the attention of global & regional players towards its rich energy resources. Breakup of USSR opened the region for international investment. Lack of export routes prevented the development of these energy resources. A centralized pipeline system was developed during Soviet era, but it could serve the Russians only. USA and EU proposed the construction of new pipeline routes in east west direction bypassing Russia. This provided with an opportunity for Europe to decrease dependence over Russian gas export and Central Asian countries to diversify their energy trade. However, the main hurdle in the development of Central Asian energy sector has been the difficulty of finding the long-term export routes acceptable to all countries involved in the energy politics. Due to this pipelines politics Central Asian states are sandwiched between great power's interests. The greatest challenge for them is to diversify their energy export through the construction of new pipelines for their economic development accommodating all interests involve in this energy and pipeline game.