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The SCO has enabled Russia and China to develop a rich dialogue based on the content of cooperation and a strong stable driving force. Both countries believe themselves to be highly complimentary (fmprc.gov.cn). Through the SCO, China and Russia have dee ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, Central Asia, and specifically the Caspian Sea Basin (CSB), is becoming a “crowded” place, as government officials and oil interests from EU countries, the United States, Russia, China, Iran, Turkey and elsewhere (including increasingly energy-thirsty India) vie for partnerships with the energy-rich Former Soviet Republics. Russia lays special claim to what it sees as its ‘near abroad’ (notably, the Caucasus and Central Asia), and its leaders strive to limit U.S. influence over the energy resources of the CSB. China, a global economic power still in ascension, not only works with Russia to counter U.S. influence in the area, but seeks to develop and import more of the region’s energy resources to fuel its own unprecedented economic expansion. Both China and Russia aim to curb rising Islamic influence in the region. This research examines the interests and policies of Russia and China, respectively, in the Caspian Sea region since the end of the Cold War, and their bilateral relationship. While the two countries enjoy a ‘strategic partnership’ that principally serves to counter the United States economically, politically and militarily, lingering mistrust and divergent policy interests could work to limit the extent of this relationship between these two giants of the non-western world. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]