German Policy Towards the Caspian Sea Region Michael Schmunk I. The view that Germany has up to now revealed no strategic interest in the Caspian Sea region, is often expressed. However, that is not the case. The German Government is indeed very much aware of the geostrategic significance of the Trans-Caucasus as a bridge and crossroads between Europe in the west and Central Asia in the east, Russia in the north and Turkey and Iran in the south. A power vacuum in this area would be an open invitation to regional powers with hegemonic designs in the Caspian Sea. It is therefore the aim of German foreign policy to prevent the emergence of new spheres of influence in the region by bolstering the independence of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia. A vacuum here would undermine stability not only in the Caucasus-Caspian Sea region but in the wider area extending as far as Europe, which as a result of the European Union's eastern enlargement is moving ever closer to Transcaucasia and the Caspian Sea. It is precisely for this reason that the German Government is involved in efforts to find a political solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, for instance. Stability is definitely a strategic objective, which Germany is pursuing with a whole series of national measures and projects, as well as other measures together with its partners in the European Union: • Political measures: the promotion of democratization; election assistance; a political and social sys­tem based on the rule of law; the promotion of free media; and the introduction of modern laws; • Economic measures: the development of a free market system; creation of medium and small sized businesses; an efficient agricultural system; advice on the modernizing of old "Soviet" industries in branches with potential; as well as energy and water supply for households; 72