Pipelines, once built, create new diplomatic realities – some states are newly connected, others isolated. Some states benefit economically, others lose out. Often new energy supply routes fall across political fault-lines, as in the case of India and Pakistan. In the case of the former Soviet Union, the existing pipeline network reflects an old political reality, and causes tension between the newly independent states and their former Russian master. With energy demand soaring in industrializing Asia, and the resurgence of great power rivalry, the politics and practicalities of pipelines become central to a proper understanding of world affairs.