- 26 - 2003
- 4. Histoire, Période Musulmane
- 4.2. Histoire du XVe au XIXe siècle
- 4.2.1. Safavides et Qâjârs
249
Sotavov, N. A.
« The Circum-Caspian Areas within the Eurasian International Relationships at the Time of Peter the Great and Nadir Shah Afshar ». Iran and the Caucasus, 5 (2001), pp. 93-100.
The attempt by the West since the fall of the Soviet Union to extend its influence into the Caucasus and Central Asia prompts the author of this article to look for an analogous set of circumstances in the period following the demise of the Safavids nearly three hundred years ago. The result is an essay that mixes a rather unreconstructed Soviet approach with some interesting information on the chaotic jockeying for power and influence in the area west of the Caspian Sea, with a particular focus on the campaigns of Nadir Shah into the region. The claim that the British and the French were invariably biased against Russia and teamed up with the Ottomans and Iranians against Russia is presented as an uncontested fact, valid for all time, and without any discussion about context and motivation. This is a pity, for the topic is an interesting one, and the period woefully understudied, mostly, one suspects, because it doesn’t fit into any clear imperial framework.

