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Zones of Conflict

Zones of Conflict

Vassilis K. Fouskas

(2003)

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Abstract

The US has major interests in the Balkans, the Greater Middle East and the Eurasian zone, which determine its political and military strategies in the region. What are these interests, and what strategies are used to ensure that they are maintained? Examining the balance of power between the US, the EU and key EU states, Vassilis Fouskas offers a critique of US foreign policy and its underlying motivations.

Fouskas argues that the major US objectives include control over gas and oil producing zones; safe transportation of energy to Western markets at stable prices; and the elimination, but not destruction, of America's Eurasian competitors. He asserts that US foreign policy is therefore driven by the desire to maintain a strategic partnership with key EU states, while preventing the emergence of an alternative coalition in Eurasia capable of challenging US supremacy.

How does the US manage its interests in Eurasia and what are the particular strategies the EU has elaborated so far to deal with America's supremacy? Has US foreign policy undergone a dramatic U-turn after the end of the Cold War or, for that matter, after September 11th? What are the roles of Germany, France, Britain and Turkey, and how do EU-Cyprus relations affect the balance of power? This book tackles these questions and argues that the emergence of a social democratic administration in Eurasia is a feasible alternative to American unilateralism.
'A vigourous and challenging contribution of one of the most important debates of our time'
The Political Quarterly Publishing Co

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Contents vii
1. Introduction 1
The Realist Chessboard 1
The Structure of the Book 5
Globalisation and European Integration 8
2. The New Geo- politics of Gas and Oil 11
The 1990s: Years of Pandemonium 13
Conflicting Interests: Oil and Gas Projects in Eurasia 16
End of the Cold War? 27
3. Scarface Politics 34
NATO's New Strategic Concept 37
Problems of Variable Geometry 39
Political, Moral and Legal Conundrums: The Kosovo War 44
US Successes 50
Muslims, Christians and Foreign Policy 54
The Limits of NATO 58
4. Near and Middle Eastern Dilemmas 63
The Northern Tier and the Greek Turkish Dimension 64
The Arab Israeli Conflict 67
Conflict over Cyprus 71
Towards Summer 1974 and After 76
5. Turkish Questions for the West 81
A Democracy Guided by the Military and Used as Such 83
The US and the Turkish Pivot 91
Summing up the Realist Game 95
6. Eurasian Gambles over Cyprus EU Prospects 99
EU Cyprus Relations and Germany s Primacy 101
US Qualified Support to Germany and Greece 106
Greek and Turkish Arguments 109
Military Diplomacy by the Turkish Pivot 111
7. Conclusion 116
US Policy in Eurasia: An Assessment 116
A Trans- Eurasian Convention Underwritten by Eurasian Powers 120
Re- conquering America 125
Notes 129
Bibliography 157
Maps 1. Oil and gas pipelines 16
2. The Enlarged European Union 36
Index 169
Abdullah,King of Jordan 70 70
Abkhazia 22