Description
Book SynopsisThe South Caucasus has established itself as a corridor for transporting energy from Azerbaijan to Georgia, Turkey, and on to Europe, symbolized by the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. This new infrastructure has created an east-west Eurasian bridge in which transnational extra-regional actors, especially the European Union and international financial institutions, have played a critical role. This book offers an original exploration of integration in the energy and transport sectors amongst Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey, and the capacity of this to fundamentally change relations between these countries. In the period studied, from the mid-1990s to 2008, integration in energy and transport did not result in broader political, security, and sociocultural integration in any significant way. The author sets his analysis in a theoretical framework, drawing on theories of integration, but also grounds it in the detailed, empirical knowledge that is the measure of true expertise.
Trade ReviewThe book is a well-argued, thought-provoking and inspiring read, rich in detail, and will be useful for anyone who wishes to see the application of integration theories on a new set of countries. It will also be interesting for anyone who aspires to learn more about region-building and integration processes in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and, more broadly, to anyone interested in understanding present-day political processes in these countries. * Europe-Asia Studies *
Integration in Energy and Transport is a pathbreaking study of integration processes across Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey. Building upon diverse theoretical foundations, Alexandros Petersen convincingly assesses both the achievements of regional integration and their limitations. At the book’s core is an analysis of how energy and transportation networks, established with extensive international assistance, contribute to a surprising degree to institutional harmonization across participating states. The work of an enterprising scholar at the start of a tragically short career, this study sets the stage for a stimulating research agenda on externally-promoted processes of regional integration in the Black Sea and Caspian region. -- Cory Welt, George Washington University
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Toward a Theory of Integration Chapter 2: Evaluating Integration amongst Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey Chapter 3: Transnational Extra-regional Actors: The World Bank Group Chapter 4: Transnational Extra-Regional Actors: TRACECA and INOGATE Chapter 5: The China–Central Asia Pipeline: A Counterfactual on the Role of TERAs
