| Summary: | The world’s attention remains focused on Ukraine, with Crimea portrayed as its hotbed. No wonder, since the peninsula is an absolutely pivotal part of the Black Sea theatre, with implications for the very survival of the Black Sea fleet as regards both Russia and Ukraine. The greater context of this call of ‘confrontational nostalgia’ blows the dust off the old chapters of history books, full of overt and covert struggles between Atlantic-central Europe (lately aided by the US) and Russophone Europe for influence and strategic depth extension over eastern Europe. However, there are two other vital theatres for these same protagonists, both remaining under- reported and less elaborated. The author brings a contrasting and comparative account of both the Caspian and the Arctic, claiming that both water plateaus are of utmost geopolitical as well as geo-economic (ecology, energy, transport) importance. The Caspian and the Arctic will have a considerable influence on the passions and imperatives of future mega geopolitical strategies – far more than the Black Sea could ever have had.
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