Here's the straight dope: Russia wants to protect their oil assets in the region, and Russia wants to protect their political assets in the region so that they can eventually gain access to a warm water port (that's not, you know, in the black sea) It's the exact same reason that Russia invaded Afghanistan, why the USSR held so many of the 'Stans. My brother, a history / Poli-sci major, once joked that America has a 4 year plan to take over the world, Russia has a 400 year plan. Anyone interested in Russia's foreign policy in the area should have a look at War at the Top of the World, by Eric Margolis. It focuses more specifically on the worldwide actions in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, etc, but the concepts also apply here and elsewhere in the middle east and Asia.