| ID | 156304 |
| Title Proper | Russia’s lasting influence in Central Asia |
| Language | ENG |
| Author | Skalamera, Morena |
| Summary / Abstract (Note) | Conventional wisdom holds that China and Russia have managed to reach a tacit understanding over their respective roles in Central Asia. Some argue that, with Beijing effectively conceding to Russia the leading role in an emerging security architecture, the threat of a renewed Great Game in the region has been deferred.1 Others concur that, to many observers’ surprise, Central Asia’s independent states have not become objects of rivalry between Moscow and Beijing, but rather a major unifying element in Sino-Russian relations.2 The two governments, they underscore, cooperate more closely in Central Asia than in any other world region. A third group suggests that based on the evidence available thus far, Russia and China have upended predictions of greater competition and succeeded in transforming a potential source of tension into a means of greater cooperation and mutual reassurance.3 More recently, thanks to Russia’s involvement in the Syrian and Ukrainian conflicts, and internal economic woes caused by the imposition of Western sanctions and the decline in the price of oil, many leading observers believe Russia is neglecting its ‘soft underbelly’ – Central Asia – and losing ground in the region. |
| `In' analytical Note |
Survival : the IISS Quarterly Vol. 59, No.6; Dec-Jan 2017-18: p.123-142 |
| Journal Source | Survival : the IISS Quarterly Vol: 59 No 6 |
| Key Words | Central Asia ; Russia ; Foreign Policy ; Goverance |