The most important war we have fought since Korea, from a geostrategic perspective, was the defense of Kuwait in 1991. That action was as much driven by the need to maintain secure supplies of oil from the Middle East, as it was to punish naked aggression. The Persian Gulf region will continue to pose uncertainties, and it is imperative that America develop alternative energy sources to hedge against them. I have noted reports of various coups attempts on the present leadership of Azerbaijan, which have failed. It is interesting that the plotters, having failed, reportedly fled to Moscow to recover.
Russian pressure is palpable across the board.
Russian interests would like to control the oil resource of their former territories, and to grip the flow of oil being exported through future pipelines. It is certainly not in our interest for such resources to be controlled by Russian factions. It would not be in the interest of a competitive energy market, or in the interest of the stability of revenues or independent decision-making by the states of the region, or for the American strategic position in the region. America's policy toward the region must no longer be dominated by ethnic and campaign politics in the United States. America's strategic interests in the region are far too important to be subjected to such politics.