Relations among countries in whatever level, from interaction to domination, in a geopolitical region, are influenced by their power at the regional and international levels. Therefore, countries considering their relative power adopt different methods to compete with other countries to achieve their goals and eventually to dominate the region. Since 1991, Caspian geopolitical region including the Caspian Sea and five littoral states- has attracted the attention of regional and extra-regional powers, due to its geopolitical and geostrategic advantages; the geopolitical importance of the Caspian Sea and its superior status in the current geopolitical system have made it a scene for competition among powers. Relying upon a descriptive-analytical approach, this article tries to answer these questions: what are the tactics used by powers involved in competition in the Caspian region in order to achieve their goals? Which of these tactics is considered as the most important competitive instrument in the Caspian Sea? To achieve the goals of this article, the authors used library and field study methods and analyzed the gathered data by using inferential statistics (SPSS software). The findings of this article show that among tactics used by countries for competition like diplomacy propaganda, economic and military means, power projection, alliance and coalition making, diplomacy is the most important tactics.

In current research, attempts were made to analyze the hidden aspects of precipitation in the Caspian region. To this end, the daily data of 385 stations, under Meteorological Organization and the Ministry of Energy's supervision was used for the period of 1966-2016 (51 years). These stations were used in order to create maps with a spatial resolution of 3 × 3 km. Sinusoidal behaviors of monthly Precipitation in each pixel of the map were investigated. Accordingly, first to sixth harmonics were extracted. Finally, to identify the spatial patterns of precipitation based on the contribution of different periodic and its zoning, the cluster analysis method was used based on the Euclidean distance and the "Ward" method of linkage. The results showed that large-scale systems and local factors such as the Alborz Mountains and the Caspian Sea have led to different patterns of atmospheric precipitation. The largest share of precipitation from large scale systems was seen in the southwest of the Caspian Sea and the eastern region and the highest share of local precipitation was met encountered in the Alborz highlands. This suggests that precipitation is concentrated in the coastal and southwest parts of the Caspian Sea and east of the region, and is less concentrated in the Alborz highlands. The results of cluster analysis indicated that in the Caspian region three classes of distinct precipitation diffraction can be identified. The geographical dispersion of these classes shows that the difference between these classes is affected by latitude and distance from the Caspian Sea.

The study tries to discuss a Golden Bowl which is kept at the Mostazafan Foundation’s Cultural Institution of Museum. Such bowls and vessels were primarily produced along the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, particularly in the Rudbar region, and later in Azerbaijan. In this article, the author studies this bowl based on iconography and argues that this was related to the first millennium BC.

Caspian miniature horse is an ancient rare breed assumed to be extinct more than 1000 years ago. This study was performed on 10 healthy 7-year-old horses with available family trees and no clinical sign of lameness on and prior to presentation. The shaved area was divided to 9 levels (1a-1b-2a-2b-3a-3b-4a-4b-5a). The ultrasonography of the right and the left metatarsal region was performed. All the structures started to appear with an acceptable contrast and visibility at the 2a level. SOFT and OOFT were well observed from the level 2a, however no definite borders were recognizable as ICL (except one case). No significant difference was observed between the sizes of tendons and ligaments in the right and left hind limbs in the present study and the area of transverse sections of DDFT were more than SOFT in all levels and the area of SL was more than SOFT in the observable surfaces. No significant difference was observed between the sizes of tendons and ligaments in the right and left hind limbs in the present study (P<0.05).

The Caspian region's strategic investment potential, energy reserves, and geo-economic significance have garnered attention from both regional and global powers. Among these, China, a trans-regional force, has displayed a keen interest in the region, employing a strategic blend of economic and energy diplomacy. By prioritizing the implementation of the One Belt-One Road initiative for investments and application, and subsequently emphasizing energy diplomacy, China has sought to bolster its economic diplomacy in the Caspian region. This article delves into China's economic diplomacy approach in the Caspian region, particularly concentrating on Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan. Employing a mixed-methods research approach encompassing both qualitative and quantitative analysis, this study examines the pivotal success factors underpinning China's diplomatic efforts in the region. The investigation reveals that China's economic diplomacy hinges on the One Belt-One Road initiative, with energy diplomacy integral to its execution. Notably, the foundation of China's successful diplomatic model lies in the cultivation of mutual trust and the pursuit of mutually beneficial outcomes.

In recent years, China has been motivated to invest in oil and gas fields of the Caspian Sea. This motivation is indicated by participation or operation of the Chinese companies in the huge projects of exploration of oil and gas as well as in the construction of a pipeline in Central Asia. As an example, the China - Kazakh oil pipeline can be considered as the biggest Chinese investment in the region. This project will play a crucial part in the future of energy supply to China. There are some elements influencing Chinese motivation to exploit Caspian Sea’s energy resources. The first element is instability in the energy market and high rates of dependence on main energy producers such as the Persian Gulf ones. Because of these problems, China tries to diversify its energy resources. The next element is good economic, diplomatic and military relationship between China and the littoral states of the Caspian Sea (Iran, Russia, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan) that help to secure energy transit to China.

The weaknesses of the traditional climatic classification methods in presenting the climatic realities of Caspian region and showing the new methods'' merits based on multivariate statistical methods, and geographical information system in presenting the climatic regions of Caspian, are among the most important ideas of conducting this study. To do so, we used the data of synoptic stations of north and north east of the country in a period of 20 years. To analyze 19 climatic elements in “Factor analysis” method; at first the map of each studied climate of the region was traced by “Surfer software” on the bases of Pixel in a 15*15 km measure. And also by “minimum curvature” method, data of each map become interpolated. After that, data of each map were changed to digital data, which a matrix in a 266*19 measure was formed of those digital data. By analyzing the matrix in “Factor analysis” method, it was certificated that 98% data variance of it is of the precipitation and temperature that Data consist: 50% of the primary factor and 48% of the secondary factor. Quantities of precipitation and temperature were analyzed by “agglomerative hierarchical cluster analyzes” in “ward” method that the Caspian region was divided to four regions in the aftermath; moderate and humid, moderate and semi humid, cold and low precipitation, and semi cold and low precipitation. These minor climatic regions are greatly influenced by some climatic factors, as the remoteness and farness from the sea and the elevation increase. Climatic varieties in the eastern parts, especially in the limits of Golestan province, are more evident.

The security-based futurology of political units is a type of futurology focusing on geographic areas to assess their security status in the future. The Caspian region as one of the regions facing various factors has gained geopolitical significance, has a wide range of probable futures. The operational objective of this study is to identify the criteria affecting the security of this region and its final objective is to delineate an optimal security-based future for the region through a future study approach. It is a qualitative case study being formulated based on some qualitative and quantitative models and the relevant literature is used as the basis for classifying security standards into six groups of military, economic, spatial, sociocultural, political and environmental. the results were used to present 18 criteria of this region security. Then, 26 questionnaires were distributed among a group of faculty members of geopolitics from the universities of Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. The collected data were analyzed using the combined mean TOPSIS method and key criteria of the Caspian region security were extracted. The findings indicated that the three key criteria of joint military and weapons investment, commercial relations and human development as the most critical geopolitical criteria of security in this region formed eight security scenarios and finally the scenario based on ‘regional joint military and weapons investment, free trade, and the homogeneous human development’ with higher scores were introduced as the criterion for the delineation of security perspective for the leaders of countries in this region.