Iran's foreign policy in the Caspian region 1991-1997

Abstract

Set in the context of the evolving political tapestry of the Caspian region, encompassing the five riparian states of Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Russia, and their immediate neighbours in the South Caucasus (Armenia and Georgia) and Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan) this PhD presents an analysis of Iranian foreign policy in the first six years following the Soviet break-up (1991-1997), an era that overlapped with the administration of President Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani (1989-1997). This thesis aims to build upon two distinct areas of current scholarship creating linkages between Tehran’s domestic and external environment between 1988 and 1991 which resulted in the comprehensive pragmatist alliance and the emergence of opportunities in the Caspian after the Cold War. The crux is that Rafsanjani’s material interests were aligned with the changing geopolitics of its northern region, inducing an Iranian policy driven by a pragmatic construction of strategic concerns.