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Imagine a vast region, home to seventy-five million people, with a cultural heritage that stretches across millennia (and may include the invention of the wheel!, which, you know was kinda important to get modern human civilization… umm... rolling):
The first important innovation of this region was the development of wheel in today Kazakhstan. The first chariot was also developed in this region around 2000-1500 B.C.E…
We don’t know much about the people who lived in this region until the appearance of the Scythians in 8th-7th centuries B.C.E. The Scythians started out in Central Asia and swept all the way across to the Black Sea region. They were an important force from 8th-4th centuries B.C.E. They exhibited a lot of nomadic characteristics of Central Asia…
Most of the Central Asian people are nomadic. The optimal size of a nomadic unit is usually small because the land cannot sustain a group of animals that is too large in number. Too many animals would require the group to move constantly to look for new pasture for the animals. The best unit is a tribal unit, which is a small group. In this case, the unit does not have to travel as much since the animals are not consuming the grass as rapidly. It is difficult to go beyond this tribal system of organization. The Scythians followed these patterns.
The Scythians also depended on their horses. The horses gave them mobility in warfare and made them an effective military force…
The next great Central Asian empire was the Xiongnu, who may have been the ancestors of the Huns. They arrived around the 3rd century B.C.E. and began to challenge the Chinese. There were disputes about trade and land. The Han dynasty, which ruled China from 3rd century B.C.E. to 3rd century C.E. (206 B.C.E. – 220 C.E.), tried to deal with the nomads in a variety of ways. None of them was particular successful. One way to deflect raids and attacks is to work out marital alliances. Often, a Chinese princess would be sent to the head of Xiongnu confederation in marriage. This, however, did not solve the economic problem since the Xiongnu wanted to trade with China. Eventually, the Chinese devised a tribute system that worked rather well. This system is really a trade system but it portrayed the Xiongnu as inferiors. If the Xiongnu accept three requirements -- accepting the Chinese calendar as their calendar, paying respect to a newly enthroned emperor, and sending periodic tribute to the Chinese court, they are allowed to set up tribute embassies which were really trade missions. This resolved the conflicts between the Central Asian nomads and the Chinese for quite some time…
The Uyghurs are the first important Turkic group. They played a dramatic role in linking the West and the East. The Uyghur people were also the first to have a developed written language that was based upon Aramaic. The Uyghur also adopted the Manichaeism and they introduced this religion to China as well. The Uyghurs traded across Eurasia; they brought different objects into China, such as Persian silvers and textiles. They introduced Islam into China. Vise versa, they also helped bringing Chinese culture to the west. In short, they acted as cultural transmitters. Around 840, the Uyghur Empire collapsed due to divisions between the nomadic and sedentary groups…
In late 9th and early 10th century, China collapsed. Simultaneously, the opposite empire in Persia also went into a period of decline. Thus, from 10th to 13th century, Central Asia could no longer function as transmitter, the role that it traditionally played…
The Mongols revived this situation when they came into power in the 13th century. They created a condition that allowed extraordinary contact to be made between the East and the West. The Mongols had taken all the characteristics of Central Asian nomads and elevated them to the highest degree. They were very interested in trade. Europeans arrived in China for the first time through the Mongols. They imported Persian medicine into China and had a great impact on Chinese medicine. Persian astronomical instruments were also brought to Beijing. A new and more accurate calendar was created as a result. They also built observatories in China, which was a Mongol innovation. Mongols also had an impact on Chinese textile in the 13th century The Mongol empire later collapsed due to internal rifts.
Now imagine that this region, trammeled by successive empires, but also constituting the key conduit of cultural and intellectual exchange between Europe and Asia from the Bronze age to, well, now, is viewed by the self-anointed ‘Great Powers’ to be nothing but a playing board for sliding political tiles and markers around (shocking, I know):
New Strategy, Old Game: The Realigning Geopolitics of Central Asia
Dr. Farkhod Tolipov/ The Central Asia- Caucasus Analyst
(Dr. Tolipov holds a PhD in Political Science and is Director of the Research Institution “Knowledge Caravan”, Tashkent, Uzbekistan.)
26 MARCH 2020
It is obvious that since the collapse of the Soviet superpower in 1991, Central Asia has been an area subjected to the geopolitical manipulations of great powers – mostly within the triangle U.S., Russia and China. While Russia’s and China’s presence in the region has frequently been considered as a “neighbors’ right”, the U.S. presence has had a dual effect: on the one hand, regional states viewed it as friendly and hoped it would translate into political and economic assistance. On the other hand, Russia and China have become increasingly concerned over the presence of their geopolitical rival in their backyard.
It is not by accident that the U.S. from the beginning promoted a regional vision, supporting the independence of these countries and their democratic development. Some U.S. experts even proposed the concept of “Central Asia as a great-power-free-zone.” In the course of U.S.-Central Asia interactions, Washington’s strategy has evolved from general principles and visions to more strongly articulated concepts. The C5+1 format, established in 2015, was a major step forward.
At the same time, C5+1 came into being in a controversial context, as international politics show signs of a return from the ad-hoc post-cold war world order to a neo-cold war type of relationship between the U.S. and Russia…
The so-called triangle geopolitics emerged in this region already in the 1990s. It is presently only taking on a new shape and new dynamics. Russia is eager to consolidate the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) created in 2015. China intends to realize the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) of its global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) first advanced in 2013. The 2020 version of the new U.S. Silk Road is a response to this. Thus, the old geopolitical game now seems to take on a new specific combination of EEU, SREB and U.S. Silk Road, which actually reflects a strongly organized, subtly articulated and ambitiously scaled process of competition in and around Central Asia.
I mean, c’mon, serious researchers, analysts and diplomats call this vast, sweeping exercise in domination, exploitation and subterfuge ‘The Great Game’! To this day.
In case any of us had forgotten that average folk are pawns:
Balihar Sanghera, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Kent
Elmira Satybaldieva, Research Fellow, Conflict Analysis Research Centre, University of Kent
The Conversation
June 29, 2018
Central Asia offers an array of economic opportunities for major powers, including access and control of valuable natural resources, favourable terms of trade and efficient trade routes. In seeking to shape the region, the US, China and Russia are all trying to regulate the international order in their image. The region might be more commonly associated with danger and security interests, such as Islamic radicalism, but what gets ignored is the region’s role as a strategic economic battleground.
Central Asia is at the centre of two new initiatives for regional economic integration by China and Russia that run against a longstanding economic vision of the US.
Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), was established in 2015. It consists of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, and is modelled on the European Union. There is free movement of goods, capital, labour and services, and common economic and industrial policies.
Second, China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was proposed in 2013 and aims to create a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes, such as the land and maritime Silk Road. Since then, many Central and South Asian countries have signed cooperation agreements with China to invest in energy and transport infrastructure.
CENTRAL ASIAN GEOPOLITICS: THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC
Scott Mistler-Ferguson /The Borgen Project
DECEMBER 28, 2020
In the heart of Central Asia lies the Kyrgyz Republic. Many consider the country an island of democracy in the region and it sports a comparatively open and competitive economy. It can be surprising then that the average Kyrgyz family earns under $1,000 a year. Its importance in Central Asian geopolitics, combined with economic reforms, has helped make it the top recipient of development assistance in the region. With a presidential election scheduled for January 2021, the new government will have to answer serious questions about which global power it aligns itself to and whether or not that alignment will bring about progress in lifting roughly 23% of the country’s population out of poverty.
Kyrgyzstan emerged from the Soviet Union’s fall with a far different government than its fellow former Soviet states. While dictatorships and tightly-controlled economies rule its neighbors, Kyrgyzstan enjoyed economic and political reforms. This led to an influx of international supporters. Development aid became the crutch upon which Kyrgyzstan’s economy leaned. The diversity of donors has given the country the unique ability to align itself with countries that best suit their interests. The problem has been that the guiding interests have been too often those of the top politicians rather than the population. Much of the blame has gone to former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. Bakiyev took over in 2005 and spent five years perfecting a system of crony capitalism that left nearly 34% of the Kyrgyz people under the poverty line, while deeply enriching himself, his family and his friends…
Relations between the U.S. and the Kyrgyz Republic continued to decline. By 2019, U.S. foreign aid to the Kyrgyz Republic had dropped 37%. Russia’s economic influence also appeared to be waning as China gradually took on the role of the principal donor. While the Kyrgyz population largely dislikes its eastern neighbor, the governments of China and Kyrgyzstan have an increasingly cozy relationship; one built increasingly upon economic dependence. Roughly 32% of the country’s imports come from China including the majority of its oil. That marks a larger percentage than any other country in Central Asia. This statistic is only a window into the economic melding between the two countries.
As of 2017, Kyrgyzstan’s debt to China made up 42.3% of its GDP. Additionally, 26.2% of its Foreign Direct Investment came from China. Kyrgyzstan’s participation in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) largely spurred this. The initiative is a multi-trillion-dollar plan for global infrastructure and trade routes spanning three continents. Kyrgyzstan has become one of the countries most indebted to China since the project’s start in 2013…
Dependency on China has only grown. Despite there being serious rifts between the populations of the two nations, for China, this comes down to central Asian geopolitics. Kyrgyzstan controls the Tien Shan mountain range which surrounds the best overland connection between Europe and Asia. As China invests billions of dollars in a global effort to rebuild its land belt of trade, Kyrgyzstan rises as a crucial point of entry between vast mountains. Maintaining a favorable and dependent relationship is therefore essential for Beijing.
18.05.2021
The defining condition for Russian policy towards the Central Asia region now is the absence of an immediate threat to national security in the form of a hostile alliance of states or one strong power. Russia does not come into contact with regional institutions, the collective interest of which could conflict with its interests and dictate the behaviour of its participants. The largest military power in the neighbourhood is China, with which Russia has friendly relations approaching those of an alliance. Central Asia itself does not represent an integral problem for Russia, like Europe or the South Caucasus; the concerns associated with it are quite occasional, although sometimes they can become urgent.
External challenges excluded, in the long term, the most serious issue in relations may be associated with the process of the formation of nation states in Russia and the countries of Central Asia, and the resulting grounds for alienation. The answer to this challenge can be in a more harmonic process of inevitable generational change, in order to preserve the integrity of the common space, regardless of the influence of the common historical experience. In other words, now it is necessary to strive to ensure that the countries’ common heritage serves as the foundation for a unifying tradition of co-development. Russia should not be misled by the fact that its culture, including pop culture, and its language are now predominant among the countries of Central Asia. At the same time, the countries of Central Asia should not be mistaken in their reading of Russian foreign policy — respect here is very easy to confuse with composure, which could have tragic consequences.
The factors that determine the nature of interaction between Russia and the Central Asian states include their shared geopolitical position. The border between Russia and Central Asia is a steppe that does not have natural obstacles. Its openness and its unsuitability for marking clear dividing lines is naturally transferred to the spheres of political, economic and cultural interaction across state borders. This leads to the fact that in the area from Southern Siberia to the foothills of the Pamir and Tien Shan mountains, a serious form of isolation becomes difficult for Russia to implement…
Russia and the Central Asian states jointly touch the southern belt of Eurasia, which includes such states as Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Their own scale and demographics make absorption and full integration with Russia and Central Asia impossible. At the same time, there are historically strong and fundamental ties between this region and such Central Asian countries as Tajikistan or Uzbekistan. Afghanistan itself is a clear dividing line between East and West, North and South, underpinned by its mountainous topography and complex ethnic composition. An important common task for Russia and the Central Asian states may be to maintain relative peace in this country after the changes that will occur in 2021, and its inclusion in international economic relations, including the main continental transport routes.
Let’s get to it, the reason the ‘Great Powers’ remain interested in Central Asia— carbon profiteering and trade routes (you didn’t think it was preserving the well-being and cultural heritage of the inhabitants, did you?):
India Needs a “China Strategy” in Central Asia
June 19, 2020
Central Asia is an important part of the world´s political and economic system, being surrounded by some of the most dynamic economies in the world; among them, three are from the BRICS countries (Russia, India, and China). Central Asia has served as the crossroads for Eurasia for centuries. In fact, the Central Asian region can be considered an intersection point between the West and the East. As a result, foreign powers have tried relentlessly to gain exclusive access to the region to project power and dominance. As Xiaojie Xu notes, “the civilizations that dominate the region have been able to exert their influence in other parts of the world.” It must be noted, however, that the survival of the Central Asian states significantly relies on the maintenance of several corridors and logistical nexuses. These corridors are highly strategic as they connect and extend towards China, Russia, Europe, the Caucasus region, and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Central Asia is geopolitically placed with China to the East, Europe to the West, Russia to the North and states like India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Turkey to the South.
In terms of its energy capacity, Central Asia is a crucial region for major energy consumers because of its rich oil and gas resources. Known as the “second Middle East” or the “second Persian Gulf,” Central Asia has 16 major sedimentary basins, including 10 basins producing oil and gas that are mainly distributed in the three countries bordering the Caspian Sea; namely, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, which occupy an important place in terms of the world’s supply of oil and gas.
Central Asian oil and gas resources are increasingly concentrated in the west, particularly in the western region of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, where oil and gas account for 95.7% and 99.3% respectively of the total resources and proven reserves account for almost 100%. Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan in the east are relatively poor in oil and gas resources. Among the three states, oil resources are prevalent in the north, while gas resources are increasingly concentrated in the south. Kazakhstan in the north has rich and abundant oil reserves, but is relatively low in gas reserves; however, Turkmenistan in the south is rich in gas reserves, but poor in its oil reserves. (emphasis added)
Just what the people of Central Asia need- more resource extraction and environmental degradation…
While the development of the mining sector continues to be a strategic priority for Kyrgyzstan, local resistance against gold mining exploitation has been on the rise. Since 2010 there has been an upsurge in social protests related to mining activities from local residents who typically have limited power to negotiate their interests over mining exploitations and preserve their livelihoods.
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