The new Great Game: Central Asia struggles to balance three powers

[Stevicus]

The new Great Game: Central Asia struggles to balance three powers - Nikkei Asia

I thought this was an interesting article about the varying degrees of influence the major powers have in the Central Asian region, encompassing the five former Soviet republics which became independent 30 years ago. Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kirghizstan.

MOSCOW -- For three decades, Central Asia has had a front-row seat for the rise and fall of empires. In 1991 the former Soviet republics in the region seceded one by one from the USSR, creating a bulwark of newly independent states and sealing the end of the Cold War. Then, after 2001, Central Asia became an arena for the U.S. war on terror, witnessing firsthand the limits of U.S. power in the ultimately failed occupation of Afghanistan.

Today, on the 30th anniversary of their independence, the five "stans" of the region: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, are the first to contend with a new era of anarchic geopolitical competition that has replaced the old era of unchecked U.S. hyperpower. Since the 19th century and the "Great Game" of dominance between Russia and Britain, the region has witnessed the seesawing fortunes of one hegemon after another.

To the south lies a vacuum left by the U.S. departure from Kabul, Afghanistan, in August and the arrival in power of Central Asia's new neighbor, the Taliban. The region today is also a global weather vane for the rise of Chinese influence, and a resurgent and increasingly imperial-minded Russia.


Few places feel all these changes more than the secluded, mountainous capital city of Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Many members of Afghanistan's U.S.-backed government fled here after the fall of Kabul. But by far the biggest change is the Chinese construction projects that have reshaped the skyline, and the rumblings of construction machines were heard everywhere this summer.

In a series of interviews that I conducted throughout Central Asia on the eve of the 30th anniversary of independence, the inroads made by China were perhaps the most surprising revelation of all. Chinese construction companies and banks have become a key source of economic largesse, and according to some, a troubling new source of dependence for the economies of the isolated region.

The Chinese have been investing and building quite a bit of infrastructure in the region, and there are some concerns the region could grow to be economically dependent on China. The power vacuum left by the US departure from Afghanistan also has had an effect. The landlocked region has to depend on other countries for access to ports, and the article mentioned plans by Uzbekistan to invest in railroads which would have to go through Afghanistan to reach seaports in Pakistan. They also mentioned China wanting to build railroads directly to Europe, which could reduce shipping costs of Chinese goods.

 

[Estro Felino]

I have been learning Russian for years.
It is evident who I side with.

Russians are fundamental because they have always built great infrastructures. And railroads.

 

[Twilight Hue]

Dependency is a pretty damming word.

It screams of subservience.

 

[sun rise]

Dependency is a pretty damming word.

It screams of subservience.

That's the name of the game - vassal states.

 

[Twilight Hue]

That's the name of the game - vassal states.

And vassal people.

 

[Kooky]

I have been learning Russian for years.
It is evident who I side with.

Russians are fundamental because they have always built great infrastructures. And railroads.

More importantly, their leader poses shirtless for heavily photoshopped pictures, and let's be honest, Thirsty is the most important factor of political analysis on the Internet.