scholarly journals Russian-Central Asian Relations in the Works of Modern French Researchers

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 979-995
Author(s):  
Rafael A. Arslanov ◽  
Elizaveta D. Trifonova
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Great Part ◽  
Russian Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Ruling Elites ◽  
The One ◽  
Annales School ◽  
Great Game ◽  
Active Return

The article examines the views of modern French researchers on the relations between Russia and the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia. This allows us to identify various interpretations of Russian foreign policy, and to understand the main approaches of French scholars analyzing the goals and tasks of Russian geostrategy in the region. As the article demonstrates, French historiography, along with the objectivist view on the Central Asian vector in Russian foreign policy, also includes works of ideological nature. Special emphasis is put on French works that focus on Russian political authors who speak of Russias neo-imperialism. These studies explain the Russian policy in Central Asia through the ruling elites ambition to resurrect an empire in the post-Soviet space and to return superpower status to Russia. Of special interest is the position of authors who try to explain the Russian attitude to the Central Asian region as, on the one hand, an expression of nostalgic feelings harbored by a great part of the population about the nations former greatness, assuming that these feelings have an impact on the leaderships policies, and on the other hand, as the Russian leaderships attempt to use Russias active return to the international arena for the consolidation and self-identification of society. It is observed that some French authors speak of a New Great Game. This very popular concept considers the actions of Russia and other powers operating in the region (USA and China) as a continuation of the historical rivalry between the Russian and British empires in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Russian authors have always been interested in French historiography; this is due to the latters scientific prestige and objectivity, and in particular its application of methodologies that further develop the tradition of the Annales School. At the same time, the growing French scholarship on the issue of Russia and post-Soviet Central Asian republics has not yet been subject to close and complex consideration, which defines the novelty of the article.

scholarly journals Kazakhstan and Prospects for Regional Cooperation in Central Asia

2021 ◽  
pp. 59-77
Author(s):  
B. Sultanov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Regional Cooperation ◽  
Environmental Transport ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Interstate Conflicts ◽  
Ruling Elites ◽  
Asian Integration ◽  
Regional Problems

A number of factors hinder regional cooperation in Central Asia. They include multidirectional foreign policy priorities of the countries of the region and unresolved acute regional problems (territorial borders, water and energy, environmental, transport and communication, agricultural and food). The ruling elites of the countries of the region may fail to resist the temptation to channel population's dissatisfaction with the difficult socio-economic situation into the mainstream of interethnic and interstate conflicts. Therefore, there can be no question of Central Asian integration.

scholarly journals Global actors in Central Asia: Great Game or Great Gain?

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-75
Author(s):  
Assima AUBAKIR
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Great Gain ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Close Proximity ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Great Game ◽  
The Eu

From the first days of their independence, the Central Asian states were constantly searching for the most optimal and beneficial ways to interact between each other and with other partners, both located in close proximity to their borders and relatively remote, but no less significant. The main goal and scientific novelty of this research is to analyze current approaches, taking into account the foreign policy doctrines of global actors (Russia, China, the USA and the EU) in relations with the countries of Central Asia. Particular attention is paid to the assessment and conclusions on the prospects for their development, including through the prism of the interests of the states of the region.

scholarly journals Public Diplomacy as an Instrument for Obtaining Foreign Policy Goals of the USA in Central Asia

2018 ◽  
pp. 32-39
Author(s):  
B. Bahriev
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Regional Environment ◽  
Policy Goals ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Usa

The article deals with the features of public diplomacy resource’ application in US foreign policy in Central Asia. The author claims that American public diplomacy which has been actively working in the region since the collapse of the USSR appears to be an important instrument of achievement of not only regional, but also global objectives of the USA. Despite a certain de-emphasis on the Central Asian direction in the American foreign policy at the present stage, the rising Russian public diplomacy activity and increasing Chinese influence in the region forces Americans to look for public diplomacy response in order to secure their positions in this important, from geopolitical viewpoint and energy resource perspective, region. The aforementioned tendencies shape a competitive regional environment for implementation of public diplomacy.

scholarly journals Think Tanks In The Formation Of The Central Asian Vector Of British Foreign Policy

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (06) ◽  
pp. 127-131
Author(s):  
Shakhnoza Akramjanovna Azimbayeva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Great Britain ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Think Tanks ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
British Foreign Policy ◽  
History Of

This article examines the role and place of British think tanks in the design and development of the country’s foreign policy towards the Central Asian region. This issue is studied in combination with an analysis of the history of the formation of British think tanks, the positions of these centers in relation to Central Asia in the early 90s of the twentieth century after the collapse of the USSR and the state of modern think tanks that study Central Asia and their influence on the decision-making process in Great Britain.

scholarly journals Features of the US Foreign Policy Towards the Central Asian States

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-81
Author(s):  
E. V. Kryzhko ◽  
P. I. Pashkovsky
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
Mineral Resources ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
The Us

The article examines the features of the US foreign policy towards the Central Asian states in the post-bipolar period. The imperatives and constants, as well as the transformation of Washington’s Central Asian policy, have been characterized. It is shown that five Central Asian states have been in the focus of American foreign policy over the past thirty years. In the process of shaping the US foreign policy in Central Asia, the presence of significant reserves of energy and mineral resources in the region was of great importance. Therefore, rivalry for Caspian energy resources and their transportation routes came to the fore. In addition to diversifying transport and logistics flows and supporting American companies, the US energy policy in Central Asia was aimed at preventing the restoration of Russia’s economic and political influence, as well as countering the penetration of China, which is interested in economic cooperation with the countries of the region. During the period under review, the following transformation of mechanisms and means of Washington’s policy in the Central Asian direction was observed: the policy of “exporting democracy”; attempts to “nurture” the pro-American elite; striving to divide states into separate groups with permanent “appointment” of leaders; involvement in a unified military system to combat terrorism; impact on the consciousness of the population in order to destabilize geopolitical rivals; building cooperation on a pragmatic basis due to internal difficulties and external constraints. Central Asian states sympathized with the American course because of their interest in technology and investment. At the same time, these states in every possible way distanced themselves from the impulses of “democratization” from Washington. Kazakhstan was a permanent regional ally of the United States, to which Uzbekistan was striving to join. The second echelon in relations with the American side was occupied by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. A feature of the positions of the Central Asian countries is the maximum benefit from cooperation with Washington while building good-neighborly relations with Russia and China, which is in dissonance with the regional imperatives of the United States. In the future, the American strategy in Central Asia will presumably proceed from the expediency of attracting regional allies and stimulating contradictions in order to contain geopolitical rivals in the region.

“Sovereign Democracy” Discourse in the Russian Foreign Policy

2018 ◽  
pp. 178-200
Author(s):  
Neziha Musaoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
The Other ◽  
Russian Foreign Policy ◽  
The West ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
The One

Many important changes occurred in the Russian Federation's foreign policy since 2000s with Putin's coming to power. Although the foreign policy is defined as pragmatic during this period, it is in fact ideologically constructed on the basis of the concept of “sovereign democracy.” The concept constitutes in the same time the source of loyalty of the Russian reelpolitik towards the West, especially the USA and of the Russian anti-globalist policies. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the intellectual, normative, and conceptual dimensions of the “sovereign democracy” concept that could serve to conceive the foreign policy practice of the Russian Federation, on the one hand, and on the other hand its dialectical relationships with the West in the era of globalization.

U.S.-Uzbek Partnership and Democratic Reforms

2004 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 271-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahram Akbarzadeh
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Foreign Policy ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
Strategic Partnership ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Positive Impression ◽  
Former Soviet Republics

In March 2002 the United States and Uzbekistan signed a Declaration of Strategic Partnership. This document marked a qualitative break in the international relations of Uzbekistan and, to some degree, the United States' relations with Central Asia. Uzbekistan had sought closer relations with the United States since its independence in September 1991. But the course of U.S.-Uzbek relations was not smooth. Various obstacles hindered Tashkent's progress in making a positive impression on successive U.S. administrations in the last decade of the twentieth century. Tashkent's abysmal human rights record and the snail's pace of democratic reforms made the notion of closer ties with Uzbekistan unsavoury for U.S. policy makers. At the same time, Washington was more concerned with developments in Russia. Other former Soviet republics, especially the five Central Asian states, were relegated to the periphery of the U.S. strategic outlook. But the dramatic events of September 11 and the subsequent U.S.-led “war on terror” changed the geopolitical landscape of Central Asia. The consequent development of ties between Tashkent and Washington was beyond the wildest dreams of Uzbek foreign policy makers. Virtually overnight, Uzbek leaders found themselves in a position to pursue an ambitious foreign policy without being slowed by domestic considerations.

Central Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and American Foreign Policy

Asian Survey ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 484-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles E. Ziegler
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
American Foreign Policy ◽  
Specific Reference ◽  
Shanghai Cooperation Organization ◽  
The Past ◽  
Central Asian

This paper examines U.S. engagement in Central Asia over the past two decades, with specific reference to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. While alarmist voices occasionally warn of the threat to American interests from China and Russia through the SCO, the organization’s influence appears limited. Washington has engaged it only sporadically, preferring to conduct relations bilaterally with the Central Asian states.

scholarly journals A Great Game in Greater Central Asia

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 238-243
Author(s):  
M. H. Glantz
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
Aral Sea Basin ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Soviet Central Asia ◽  
Great Game ◽  
Central Asian Republics

The region historically referred to as Soviet Central Asia includes the 5 Central Asian Republics (CARs) of the Former Soviet Union (FSU): Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Their political status changed drastically when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and they became independent republics. Since the early 1990s, Central Asian leaders have referred on occasion to neighboring Afghanistan as the sixth CAR. In fact, it does occupy 14% of the Aral Sea Basin and its mountains supply about 15% of streamflow to the region’s mighty Amu Darya River that used to flow into Central Asia’s Aral Sea.

scholarly journals EU Policy in Central Asia

Politeja ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4(73)) ◽  
pp. 29-52
Author(s):  
Kamen Velichkov
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
The United States ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eu Foreign Policy ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Centripetal Forces ◽  
The Eu

Geography and a preference for regional approaches have an impact on EU foreign policy. From the EU perspective, the countries of Central Asia are classified as “neighbors of EU neighbors.” The EU’s policies assume the existence of strong centripetal forces in the Eurasian heartland, whereas in fact the regionalization is still in the initial stages there. Consequently, EU foreign policy in Central Asia pursues both structural and relational objectives. The specific goals and performance of EU member states add a two-tier dimension to this process. In parallel with other external actors such as Japan, the United States, South Korea, and India, the European Union conducts its dialogue and cooperation with the Central Asian states in a 5+1 format. Compared to the policies of China, Turkey, or Russia, the EU has much more limited influence. It primarily aims to support the independent development of the Central Asian countries, for which some degree of regionalization appears to be a prerequisite.

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