Trans-Eurasian Transport Corridors

In the following chapters, we examine three key infrastructure sectors for which cross-border economic ties are crucial – transport infrastructure, electric power infrastructure and telecommunications. We begin by exploring the transport sector, focusing on the economies of the transcontinental east-west and north-south transport corridors in the post-Soviet area.1 We combine analysis of economic interaction with analysis of the various institutions involved. Transportation is particularly important for post-Soviet regionalism: not only because access to global markets is a serious problem for many landlocked FSU countries but also because transport potential represents a kind of ‘public good’ from which many FSU could benefit by making the transport corridors available to extra-regional actors. This public benefit, however, can only come through international cooperation. As in any situation where society at large stands to benefit, there are strong incentives to deviate from the optimal level of cooperation; therefore, regional cooperation as a mutual commitment device is crucial.