The new great game

The Caspian Region, lying south of Russia, west of China and north of Afghanistan, contains the world's largest untapped oil and gas resources. In the years between the death of the Soviet Union and September 11, 2001, oil companies and politicians have struggled to possess and develop these resources. Using a concept immortalised by Kipling in his novel Kim, Lutz Kleveman argues that there is now a new 'Great Game in the region, in with the US, Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Iran – most of which are nuclear powers – are competing. The New Great Game is an insightful and exacting portrait of a region in which there are few rules and where the rewards for victory are nothing less than power and prosperity in the new century.