摘要：No highly industrialized society can survive at present without oil resources and any significant threat to
the availability of this resource is a cause of crisis. Oil has been a recurring source of conflict in the past and
conflicts over oil are a significant feature of the global security environment. The protection of global resource
flows is a prominent feature of USA security policy.
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the Caspian region houses 270 billion barrels of oil, about one-fifth
of the world¡¯s total proven reserves of oil. Before the Iraq War, the opening of the Caspian basin to foreign
investment represented a strategic and an economic interest for the USA, because of the continuing risk of conflict
in the Persian Gulf area. As the global demand for energy rises, the Caspian Sea region will also face a growing risk
of military conflict.
关键词：Caspian Sea basin, oil resources, potential for conflict
