The aim of the study is to analyze the specifics of the relations between Caspian states in the context of the legal status of the Caspian Basin. The Caspian region includes Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan. The implementation of the research problem will be possible thanks to a comprehensive analysis of the decision-making process in the legal perspective of the Caspian Basin. The subject of the study is thus the evolution and concepts of the problem of the legal status of the Basin before and after the Cold War. An important element of the study is the Convention regulating the legal status of the Caspian Sea and its consequences for the international relations in the Caspian region.

This study’s research problem is the determinants, evolution and implementation of cooperation in the energy dimension between the Caspian states of Central Asia (Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Pipeline routes are determined considering economic conditions, but are also the result of geopolitical actions of the states. The study aims to verify the research hypothesis that the specificity of cooperation in the energy field between the Caspian states and China is conditioned by objective economic interdependencies, but also results from geopolitical conditions. A predictive approach, related to the future role of the Caspian region in the energy market, was taken into account. A factor method was used in the analysis to identify the determinants of cooperation in the energy dimension between the Caspian states and China. A theoretical approach useful in solving the research problem is the geopolitical (geo-energy) approach and the theory of complex interdependence.