Constructive competition or destructive conflict in the Caspian Sea region?

The Caspian Sea region has hitherto largely been investigated from a New Great Game perspective that depicts the region as a geopolitical battleground between regional and externalgreat powers because of its rich natural resources, strategic location, environmental issues and the legal disagreement. This dissertation, by contrast, looks at the Caspian Sea region through the lens of classical functionalism, which still acknowledges the difficulties and problematic starting situation of power politics in the region. This dissertation, however, seeks to show that there are ways forward by identifying mechanisms and means to transform the New Great Game into functional cooperation. The core aim of this thesis is to portray an alternative image of the Caspian Sea region. The dissertation examines three intertwined case studies, namely the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC), the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) and the Caspian Environmental Program (CEP)