Several states in the Caspian region, including the five littoral states of the Caspian Sea, namely the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Azerbaijan use ad hoc diplomatic relations to build trust and goodwill as well as to boost the bargaining power of their governments. Generally, the focus is to establish, design, and amend regional and international rules about the world system and the littoral states. Mechanisms include hard power, soft power, and smart power to achieve hard security, soft security, and smart security.
