Supervisors info:
Ιωάννης Μάζης, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Τουρκικών Σπουδών και Σύγχρονων Ασιατικών Σπουδών, ΕΚΠΑ.
Άγις Δήγκας, Υπ. Δρ., Τμήμα Τουρκικών Σπουδών και Σύγχρονων Ασιατικών Σπουδών, ΕΚΠΑ.
Ξανθίππη Δωματιώτη, Υπ. Δρ., Τμήμα Τουρκικών Σπουδών και Σύγχρονων Ασιατικών Σπουδών, ΕΚΠΑ.
Original Title:
Ο γεωπολιτικός ρόλος των ενεργειακών οδεύσεων, με αφετηρία την Κεντρική Ασία, στο γεωπολιτικό σύμπλοκο Ε.Ε.- Ρωσίας– Κίνας και η νέα γεωστρατηγική ισορροπία στην πλανητική νήσο, λόγω της πρωτοβουλίας One Belt One Road (OBOR).
Translated title:
The geopolitical role of energy routes, starting by Central Asia, in the EU-Russia-China geopolitical complex and the new geostrategic balance in the World island due to the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.
Summary:
Central Asia has been and continues to be an area of particular geopolitical interest as it is geographically a crossroads of the East and West and at the same time is the heart of the Asian continent. Given the existence of large energy deposits in the wider region, it has always been a place of fierce competition, not only between the countries of Central Asia but also between countries that are peripheral (eg China, Russia) or countries and institutions which have an international power (eg US, EU).
However, and even though the region is emerging as an important crossroads between East and West, its geological form causes difficulties in infrastructure building, which the Central Asian countries themselves are unable to cope with. Good planning, financial resources, high know-how, equipment and trained workforce are required, and all these are factors that can only be coordinated by external large forces, and which, through their investments, have access to the area.
Competition for regional influence and control over the region's natural resources is often seen through the co-operation of bilateral and multilateral economic and military agreements with the Central Asian states. However, factors such as the bad - because of the action of extremist groups and the existence of a variety of issues within countries – security situation, make it difficult to implement the agreed conditions, resulting in a constantly changing field of action which leads to the emergence of new global geopolitical players and new strategic interests.
In this regard, account must be taken of the fact that China is attempting to create a new Silk Road, an initiative based on an unprecedented borrowing program and funding ports, roads and rail links. This is an area in which the Eurasian trade bottlenecks will be eliminated, while there will be improvement in the connection networks across Central, Western and Southern Asia, as well as the Middle East and East and North Africa. Obviously, beyond China's economic benefits from the implementation of this grand project, there are also geopolitical benefits.
This study deals with the redistribution of power resulting from the geopolitical factor of energy routes in Central Asia and is formulated on the basis of the decisions and actions of the actors involved (Central Asia and the Geopolitical Complex). The need for the geopolitical mapping of the situation is that in the long term, developments in the energy sector (construction of new pipelines in the context of the revival of the silk road, as well as exploration and exploitation of other energy sources), not only in the analyzed region but also globally are expected to be of major importance as the great powers treat the region as a field of exercise of their influence. In this context, the present study results in the creation of a geopolitical power redistribution model, based on the analysis of the geopolitical factor of energy routes starting from Central Asia in the EU-Russia-China geopolitical complex.
