The opening of the oil-rich Caspian Sea region after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, presents major opportunities for the future development of world energy supplies. Development of mineral resources in the Caspian will also strengthen the economies of the three newly independent states of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. However, the full realization of these opportunities is largely dependent on the outcome of the resolution, if any in the near future, of the Caspian Sea's legal status dispute among the five littoral states. The thesis attempts to offer a viable framework for understanding and appreciating the complexity of the Caspian Sea's legal status dispute. A more comprehensive picture this paper purports to offer from a distinct view angle, aims at demonstrating that it is not the provisions of international treaties, easily interpreted in a number of different ways, and occasionally even avoided, and not purely economic interests, that could be sacrificed for political ones, but the specific set of national interests and geopolitical agendas of each of the shoreline countries that should be regarded as primary factors affecting a given country's position. These sets of interests and agendas, examined in this paper, are what should be given careful consideration by the parties involved, in order to come up with a viable solution. The thesis suggests that the successful long-term resolution of the overall dispute and of a number of minor border disputes requires understanding, manipulation and maneuvering between these national interests and geopolitical agendas..