Given the vital importance of oil and gas in fueling modern societies, securing access to such resources forms an integral component of a country’s foreign policy. Transnational pipeline projects can either aggravate interstate relations – as in the case of an energy-rich state halting supplies to neighboring countries – or promote cooperation, such as the peace pipeline theory claiming that pipelines connecting adversarial countries lowers the risk of armed conflict.
The five Central Asian republics possess significant oil and gas reserves, and have subsequently attracted the…
