"With essays by recognized experts in the region, the book offers original, comprehensive, objective, and balanced analyses of the critical issues facing the Caspian states in the next decade. Among the issues examined are population, environment, economic development, security and geopolitics, interstate rivalry, pipeline routes, oil and gas reserves, and the legal regime of the sea. Adopting a critical and inquisitive approach, the book offers foresights into possible future directions, including promises and pitfalls that await the region as it enters the next millennium."--BOOK JACKET.