The International–Domestic Nexus in Anti-corruption Policy Making: The Case of Caspian Oil and Gas States

This article looks at the application, in the anti-corruption realm, of the analytical framework developed for transnational human rights advocacy by Risse, Ropp, and Sikkink. Focusing on Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, this article shows that the level of integration with Western actors on the state and corporate levels determined the degree to which the transnational anti-corruption regime has been accepted in the Caspian region. As the transnational regime does ultimately lack coercive powers, the tension between transnational demands and national political elites does not translate into serious conflict, as a broader formal acceptance of the transnational anti-corruption regime offers national actors only limited opportunities to genuinely promote the issue.