By Katia Zatuliveter, Research Associate, U K Defence Forum

After many months of negotiations, on Saturday 10th October 2009 Armenian and Turkish representatives met in Zurich and signed two documents: the Protocol on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations and the Protocol on Development of Relations between the two countries. This happened just 4 days before the 14 October World Cup qualifier match between Armenia and Turkey.

By Brigadier Patrick Nopens

In the last year three events in particular have alarmed the West and undrlined the importance of the South Caucasus and the Caspian.

A first event was the War in Georgia in August last year when Russia returned by force of arms to the South Caucasus. The objective was not only to lay its hand on South Ossetia and Abkhazia but also to demonstrate that the energy corridor south of the Caucasus could be interrupted at will by Russia. Russia demonstrated this most potently by aerial attacks on sites in the immediate vicinity of the Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyan pipeline. You don't always have to hit the target to make your point.

In the 'Great Game' of the 19th century, global powers attempt to gain political control of a key region and therefore access to its resources and exploit its geographical position.

The expression was used particularly for what was in effect a confrontation between the Russian empire and the British Empire over the northern approaches to the Indian Raj – India, Pakistan, Afghanistan.

The Caspian Sea Basin (CSB) is currently an arena for geopolitical competition amongst a range of players from both inside and outside the region.

Part 1 of a series about the Caspian Sea Basin

Held on 11th September, 2009, the Akatu summit was attended by Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. According to Robert Cutler, writing in the Asian Times, it has proved difficult to determine what was actually on the agenda - there was a notable lack of official communiqués. However, it was anticipated that the summit would be an informal event to discuss sub-regional cooperation on a wide range of issues. These included the construction of a railway to Iran and the development of gas pipelines to China. The summit was not going to focus on the status of the Caspian Sea and the division of the seabed. These issues can only be discussed with the participation of all five Caspian littoral states. Yet despite the summit considering issues related to Iran, this country was not invited.