Rudyard Kipling -- whose poem "If" graces the wall of many an Indian restaurant in Hong Kong -- called it the "Great Game". Control of Central Asia. It's the game that won't go away. With the US, these days, as lead player. The geo-politico goal? Put the lock on one more non-Gulf, non-Saudi source of oil. Ta-raa! Opening today, with oil execs, local and regional pols, and US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to ceremoniously turn the tap, start the flow. The 1,100-mile pipeline starts out from the Caspian Sea in Azerbaijan, wends its way through Georgia, and ends next to a US miliary base (hello!) at Incirlik, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
Background and where the players move to next -- in the UK's Independent here. Another view: BBC News here. Update. Very extensive and excellent report in Canada's Globe & Mail.
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