The paper is structured on a “taper-off” principle, leading from a broader context to more specific matters. It was deemed necessary to have an overview of the wider region before focusing on energy politics issues in Chapters 2, 3, and 4. This was necessitated by two main reasons- first, the “Great Game” presented in Chapter 3 is being “played” within an extensive set of rules some of which have little to do with energy; second, it would be wrong to assume that energy is the only issue at stake in the Black Sea- Caspian region.