Energy transportation lines in the new Black Sea geopolitics: South Gas Corridor

The geopolitics of Black Sea region altered after the Cold War. Namely, the Black Sea was an inner sea between two blocks throughout the Cold War. But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the importance of the region changed in terms of politics and commerce. Some factors which occurred after the Cold War altered the geopolitics of the Black Sea region. The most significant of these factors was the pass of energy transportation pipelines through the region. As known, nowadays, the Black Sea region is as the junction for energy transportation pipelines. Because of the transit location of the Black Sea region which links between oil demanded countries and oil-rich countries, the importance of the region has increased. Especially, the need of the pipelines for transportation of natural gas affected significantly the geopolitical position of the region. The use of natural gas trade as a foreign policy tool has revealed new conflict and cooperation benefits. So, regional and global actors have started to struggle for controlling energy resources and pipelines. The declaration of the South Gas Corridor that will pass from the Black Sea region has started new rivalry regarding new pipelines in the region. The aim of the thesis is to explain the importance of energy transportation pipelines on changing the geopolitics of the Black Sea and to investigate comprehensively the Southern Gas Corridor.