 When many in the West look at maps, Central Asia is often overlooked, and the countries there are usually lumped together as the stands. The importance of these countries and geopolitics is often overlooked, but they may be the site of some of the most strategic geopolitical plays of the 21st century. Turkmenistan fits this category well. It is a country with a small population but decent land area, and with large oil and natural gas reserves, keeping this nation on your good side might be crucial for energy security. All this aside, how willing is Turkmenistan, with its largely isolationist government, to enter into deals with countries over its gas, and what deals are already in place with the Central Asian nation? Like with all geopolitical topics, the history of the country in question must first be addressed. To save time, I'm starting with the fall of the Soviet Union. Turkmenistan gained independence from said union on the 27th of October 1991, and from that day forward, their current leader, Sapramurat Nyazov, would become the first president of the country. His rule over Turkmenistan was brutal, and is often described as one of the most despotic of his time. A personality cult was built around the totalitarian leader, with names of the days of the week and months being renamed to further Turkmen nationalism, which was centered around him. Nyazov adopted the name Turkmenbashi, literally meaning head of the Turkmens. Major developments under his rule included making water, electricity, and gas supposedly free to all Turkmens. While this sounds ideal, you must remember that despite Turkmenistan's massive gas reserves, the money made from these resources mainly went to Nyazov and his officials, so the vast majority of Turkmens lived, and still do live, in conditions where electricity and gas are not needed. Nyazov also closed all rural libraries and hospitals whilst half of the population lived in these rural areas. He wanted the country to be centered around the capital Ashkaban, which is clear in the extensive funds he put into this expanse of white marble buildings seen here. Though it all looks impressive, streets are completely empty, and many former residents have been forced to move out of these areas. To top it off, Nyazov even had himself a large golden statue replicating him built in the middle of the city. Following the death spot's death in 2006, Gurban Gully Berdimahamedov, also known as became president and has ruled Turkmenistan to this day. During this time, Berdimahamedov reversed some of the more erratic policies of Nyazov, now allowing other languages to be taught besides Turkmen in the country, and the names of the months and days of the week returned to normal. However, he has created a new personality cult surrounding him, centered around his oh-so-impressive achievements in sport, music, and most importantly, equestrianism. He's even replaced the city center's statue of Nyazov with the statue of himself on a horse, while moving the Nyazov statue to the outer parts of the city. Berdimahamedov even created a title for himself just like his predecessor, his title is Arkadog, meaning friend or patron. Now since you know a bit about what's going on in Turkmenistan, it's time to look outwards. The nation immediately borders Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Iran, and has a maritime border with Azerbaijan, due to the Caspian Sea. Outside of the immediate neighborhood, Turkmenistan is not far from major powers like Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and India. Being at the crossroads of several regions of the world, Turkmenistan has somewhat been influenced by all these nations, either in their ancient or modern forms. Turkmenistan has a close relationship with many of the post-Soviet states, participating in the Commonwealth of Independent States, though it is not a full member. In these post-Soviet states, their strongest partnership is with Russia. Turkmenistan also participates in the Organization for Islamic Cooperation, including another main partner of the nation, Iran. Curiously, Turkmenistan is the only Turkic majority nation not to participate in the Turkic Council, due to its military neutrality, stated in the Turkmen Constitution. This specific detail of their constitution defines much of their foreign policy, and much of their identity centers around their neutrality. By this, they are not able to join any military alliances, however they are open to military aid. This also does not rule out Turkmenistan having partnerships with other countries in the region, like Russia and Iran as I have mentioned before, but these countries are not military allies of Turkmenistan. As I mentioned earlier, Turkmenistan lies at the crossroads of many different parts of the world. With globalization being realized faster than many can comprehend, the demand for oil and gas continues to rise in many countries. It ranks sixth in the world for natural gas, and has 4% of the entire world's natural gas reserves, which can mainly be found on the country's Caspian shoreline. At the rate the country uses gas, and with known reserves factored in, the country has 191 years left of natural gas before it runs out, so Turkmenistan is more willing than other nations to export its gas. China and Iran have both pipelines that are connected to Turkmenistan, whose supplies gas for both these countries. These pipelines were built in 2010 in hopes of recovering the Turkmen economy. In the future, Turkmenistan could be an important regional exporter of gas to other locations in the Middle East, which are starting to run low on their reserves. In regards to other major nations in their oil supply, capital gain from Turkmenistan does not look likely. Russia is already energy independent, and already exports its oil to the rest of the European continent. Great geographic distance separates Turkmenistan from the United States, which is, you guessed it, energy independent as well, and a major exporter itself. For the foreseeable future, Turkmenistan will make most of its money off gas by selling to its Central Asian and Middle Eastern neighborhood, and also China, which is gaining influence across Central Asia as well. In conclusion, the nation of Turkmenistan has a lot to offer its neighbors in terms of natural resources. However, it has the issue of being landlocked, which separates it from many potential nations in need of their gas. Additionally, Turkmenistan's repressive policies hinder most of its population from making any significant gains off the country's resource wealth. 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