160
• Increasing the viability of the Silk Road idea of increasing north-south trade and
communications links to increase the development and diversification of the
region’s energy and other resources and supply routes;
• Promoting the eventual emergence of good governance and respect for human
rights;
• Fostering competitive market economies;
• Combatting the trafficking of narcotics and people;
• Sustaining nonproliferation. (Nichol 2014:5)
According to Antony J. Blinken, in his second term, Obama paid more attention
to transit projects for transiting oil from the Caspian Sea to European markets with
the hope of fostering collaboration among US allies forming a southern chain
stretching from the Mediterranean region to the steppes of Central Asia (Nichol
2014:5).
US Contacts with Caspian Sea Leaders
Obama conducted no official visits to the region in either of his terms, although a
number of high-profile meetings took place. He invited a number of government
representatives to Washington and was also represented during regional visits by
Hillary Clinton and John Kerry in their role as Secretary of States. On April 11,
2010, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was engaged at the side-lines of “the
Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC,” and “pledged to intensify bilateral
cooperation to promote nuclear safety and nonproliferation, regional stability in
Central Asia, economic prosperity, and universal values,” encouraging Kazakhstan
to fully implement its “2009–2012 National Human Rights Action Plan.” In return,
Nazarbayev agreed to facilitate US military air flights to Afghanistan. Meanwhile,
Clinton visited Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan in early December 2010,
participating in the “OSCE Summit in Kazakhstan.” She also met briefly with Tajik
President Rahmon and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow on the
side-lines of the Astana Summit. In Uzbekistan, she signed an accord on scientific
cooperation, stating the goal of furthering US engagement with the country (Nichol
2014:6–7).
In June 2012, Clinton visited Azerbaijan to meet with Ilham Aliyev in talks surrounding tensions with bordering Armenia (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/
clinton-visits-azerbaijan-amid-border-clashes.aspx?pageID=238&nID=22527&Ne
wsCatID=359 2017). President Obama himself later met with President Nazarbayev
at the nuclear security summit in Seoul, South Korea, in March 2012, and hailed
Kazakhstan’s efforts to secure the whereabouts of nuclear materials inherited from
the former Soviet Union. Furthermore, Secretary-of-State John Kerry met with visiting Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov in July 2013 to convene a session of
the bilateral Strategic Partnership Commission (Nichol 2014:6–7).
5 US Energy Diplomacy Under the Obama Administration
• Increasing the viability of the Silk Road idea of increasing north-south trade and
communications links to increase the development and diversification of the
region’s energy and other resources and supply routes;
• Promoting the eventual emergence of good governance and respect for human
rights;
• Fostering competitive market economies;
• Combatting the trafficking of narcotics and people;
• Sustaining nonproliferation. (Nichol 2014:5)
According to Antony J. Blinken, in his second term, Obama paid more attention
to transit projects for transiting oil from the Caspian Sea to European markets with
the hope of fostering collaboration among US allies forming a southern chain
stretching from the Mediterranean region to the steppes of Central Asia (Nichol
2014:5).
US Contacts with Caspian Sea Leaders
Obama conducted no official visits to the region in either of his terms, although a
number of high-profile meetings took place. He invited a number of government
representatives to Washington and was also represented during regional visits by
Hillary Clinton and John Kerry in their role as Secretary of States. On April 11,
2010, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev was engaged at the side-lines of “the
Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC,” and “pledged to intensify bilateral
cooperation to promote nuclear safety and nonproliferation, regional stability in
Central Asia, economic prosperity, and universal values,” encouraging Kazakhstan
to fully implement its “2009–2012 National Human Rights Action Plan.” In return,
Nazarbayev agreed to facilitate US military air flights to Afghanistan. Meanwhile,
Clinton visited Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan in early December 2010,
participating in the “OSCE Summit in Kazakhstan.” She also met briefly with Tajik
President Rahmon and Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow on the
side-lines of the Astana Summit. In Uzbekistan, she signed an accord on scientific
cooperation, stating the goal of furthering US engagement with the country (Nichol
2014:6–7).
In June 2012, Clinton visited Azerbaijan to meet with Ilham Aliyev in talks surrounding tensions with bordering Armenia (http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/
clinton-visits-azerbaijan-amid-border-clashes.aspx?pageID=238&nID=22527&Ne
wsCatID=359 2017). President Obama himself later met with President Nazarbayev
at the nuclear security summit in Seoul, South Korea, in March 2012, and hailed
Kazakhstan’s efforts to secure the whereabouts of nuclear materials inherited from
the former Soviet Union. Furthermore, Secretary-of-State John Kerry met with visiting Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov in July 2013 to convene a session of
the bilateral Strategic Partnership Commission (Nichol 2014:6–7).
5 US Energy Diplomacy Under the Obama Administration