History of oil development in the Caspian Basin / Bülent Gökay -- The legal status of the Caspian Sea: conflict and compromise / Cynthia M. Croissant and Michael P. Croissant -- The Caspian oil pipeline tangle: a steel web of confusion / Jennifer DeLay -- Caspian oil and the environment: curse or cure? / Levent Hekimoǧlu -- Azerbiajan: oil and politics in the country's future / Nasib Nassibli -- Russia: developing cooperation on the Caspian / Andrei Shoumikhin -- Iran: geopolitical challenges and the Caspian region / Nader Entessar -- Kazakstan: big politics around big oil / Vladimir Babak -- Turkmenistan: oil, gas, and Caspian politics / Vladimir Mesamed -- Turkey: looking for light at the end of the Caspian pipeline / Bülent Aras and George Foster -- The United States: Washington's new frontier in the Transcaspian / Stephen J. Blank -- Georgia: bridge or barrier for Caspian oil? / Michael P. Croissant.