FROM CENTRAL ASIA TO GREAT CENTRAL ASIA: HE GOALS AND ADJUSTMENTS OF U.S. CENTRAL ASIAN STRATEGY
Abstract
To penetrate and maintain peaceful development of the Central Asian region is a consistent goal of the United States for its international interests. With the 9/11 event as the baseline, since 2001 America’s awareness of the strategic im-portance of Central Asia and the latter’s weight in U.S. global strategy has been greatly changed. According to Charles Manes, the 9/11 terrorist attack enabled the U.S. to “discover Central Asia.”1 As a result of this discovery the United States effectively gained a foothold in Central Asia. However, the U.S. has been so impatient that it made a policy mistake. In supporting the Color Revolution in order to change the political system in Central Asian countries, it promoted democratization in the region in too great a rush.
Facts have proved that the Color Revolution model is not suitable for this area. The U.S. interference in Central Asia has caused some suspicion in Central Asian countries which in turn has affected relations between the United States and Central Asian countries. Due to their suspicion of aggressive U.S. actions in this region, Central Asian countries have reported a steady development in their cooperation with Russia and China.
The operation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has been very impressive and successful. It set a strong force to challenge the U.S. strategy in the region; for instance, on 5 July,2005, the SCO issued a declaration calling for the United States, though not explicitly, to set a timeline for withdrawing its military forces from Karshi-Khanabad Air Base, located in southern Uzbekistan.2
Downloads
References
Ch. Manes, “America Discovers Central Asia,” For-eign Affairs, Vol. 82, No. 2, March/April 2003, pp. 120-132.
See: L. Beehner, “The Rise of the Shanghai Coop-eration Organization,” CFR, 26 June, 2006, from IISS home page, available at [http://www.iiss.org/whats-new/iiss-in-the-press/press-coverage-2006/june-2006/rise-of-the-shang-hai-cooperation-organization/].
See: Maj. V. de Kytspotter, The Very Great Game?The U.S. New Frontier in Central Asia, A Research Paper Presented to the Geneva Centre for Security Policy 18th In-ternational Training Course, February 2004, p. 6.
See: J. Nichol, Central Asia: Regional Develop-ments and Implications for U.S. Interests, CRS Report Or-der Code RL30294, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.,Updated 26 April, 2007, pp. 34, 35.
See: St.J. Blank, “Strategic Surprise? Central Asia in 2006,” The China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, Vol. 4,No. 2, May 2006, pp. 109-130.
The National Security Strategy of the United States of America, White House, Washington, D.C., March 2006, p. 40.
See: M. Crosston, Fostering Fundamentalism: Terrorism, Democracy and American Engagement in Central Asia,Ashgate Publishing Limited, Aldershot, England, 2006, p. 15.
See: A. Cohen, “U.S. Interests and Central Asia Energy Security,” Backgrounder, No. 1984, 15 November, 2006,p. 1.
The main point of this theory is: Compared with totalitarian countries, democratic countries have less tendency to war, at least between them. Although seriously flawed, this logic was later used by western countries’ decision makers as an important evidence for the argumentation of their democratic strategies, which was especially true during the Clinton Administration and the Bush Administration (see: M.W. Doyle, “Liberalism and World Politics,” American Political Sci-ence Review, December 1986; C.R. Ember, M. Ember, B. Russett, “Peace Between Participatory Polities,” World Politics,July 1992; Debating the Democratic Peace, ed. by M.E. Brown, S.M. Lynn-Jones, St.E. Miller, The MIT Press, Cambridge,MA, 1996).
See: S.E. Cornell: “Eurasia Crisis and Opportunity,” The Journal of International Security Affairs, No. 11, Fall 2006, p. 30.
S. Mahnovski, et al., Economic Dimensions of Security in Central Asia, RAND Corp., Santa Monica, 2006, p. 73.
S.N. Macfarlane, “The United States and Regionalism in Central Asia,” International Affairs, Vol. 80, No. 3, p. 450.
N. Abbas, “Bolstering Security and Bolstering Democracy in South and Central Asia”, UNISCI Discussion Papers,No. 10, 1 January, 2006, p. 334.
See: M. Crosston, op. cit., p. 12.
See: J. Nichol, Central Asia: Regional Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests, CRS Report Order Code RL33458, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Updated 26 April, 2007, p. 23.
See: The United State Mission to the European Union, “Assistant Secretary of State Jones on U.S. Policy in Central Asia”, 12 January, 2004, available at [http://www.useu.be/Terrorism/USResponse/Dec1401JonesUSPolicyCentralAsia.html].
See: C. Rice, “The Promise of Democratic Peace,” Washington Post, 11 December, 2005, p. B7.
See: R.A. Boucher, Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State, “U.S. Pol-icy in Central Asia: Balancing Priority,” Part II, Testimony to Committee on International Relations House of Represent-atives, Subcommittee on the Middle East and Central Asia, 26 April, 2006, in: 109th Congress Second Session, Serial No. 109-186, p. 9.
See: E.A. Feigenbaum, Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs, “Kazakhstan and the United States in a Changed World,” Remarks to the Institute of World Economy and Policy, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 23 August, 2006.
Quoted from: G. Saidazimova, “Central Asia: Could Regional Dynamics Spell Closer U.S.-Kazakh Ties?” Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty Features, 8 June, 2006.
See: P. Ipek, “Challenges for Democracy in Central Asia: What Can United States Do?” Middle East Policy, Vol. 39,No. 1, Spring 2007, p. 102.
See: Ibidem; R. Giragosian, “The Strategic Central Asian Arena,” The China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, Vol. 4,No. 1, pp. 146-147; V. Naumkin, “Uzbekistan’s State-Building Fatigue,” The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 3, pp. 138-139; F. Hill, K. Jones, “Fear of Democracy or Revolution: The Reaction to Andijon,” The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 29,No. 3, pp. 132-133.
See: M. Crosston, op. cit., pp. 18, 19, 12, 11.
M.E. Ahrari, J. Beal, “The New Great Game in Muslim Central Asia,” McNair Paper 47, Institute for National Strategic Studies, National Defense University, Washington, DC, U.S., January 1996; A.M. Jaffe, R. Manning, “The Myth of the Caspian ‘Great Game’: The Real Geopolitics of Energy,” Survival, Vol. 40, No. 4, Winter 1998-1999, pp. 112-131;A. Rashid, Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia, I.B. Tauris, London, 2000; The New Great Game:
lood and Oil in Central Asia, ed. by L. Kleveman, Atlantic Books, London, 2004; N. Swanström, “China and Central Asia:
New Great Game or Traditional Vassal Relations?” Journal of Contemporary China, Vol. 45, No. 12, November 2005,pp. 569-584; M.K. Bhadrakumar, “The Great Game on a Razor’s Edge,” Asian Times Online, 23 December, 2006.
See: V. Socor, “Cheney Visit Spotlights Kazakhstan’s Pivotal Role,” Eurasia Daily Monitor, 8 May, 2006.
See: S.E. Cornell, op. cit.
M. Mihalka, “Not Much of a Game: Security Dynamics in Central Asia,” The China and Eurasia Forum Quar-terly, Vol. 5, No. 2, 2007, p. 38.
See: R. Weitz, “Averting a New Great Game in Central Asia,” The Washington Quarterly, Vol. 29, No. 3, 2006, p. 161.
M.B. Olcott, “U.S. Policy in Central Asia: Balancing Priority,” Part II, in: 109th Congress Second Session, Serial No. 109-186, p. 33.
S.F. Starr, “A Partnership for Central Asia,” Foreign Affairs, Vol. 84, No. 4, July/August 2005, p. 169.
See: M. Rywkin, “Security and Stability in Central Asia: Differing Interests and Perspectives,” American Foreign Policy Interests, Vol. 207, 2006, p. 198.
E. Rumer, “The U.S. Interests and Role in Central Asia after K2,” Washington Quarterly, Summer 2006, p. 153.
See: A.L.Boyer, “Recreating the Silk Road; The Challenges of Overcoming Transaction Costs,” The China and Eur-asia Forum Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2006, p. 73; USID: “A Central-South Asia Energy Corridor,” Energy Update, Issue 2,March/April 2007, p. 22.
See: S.F. Starr, op. cit.
See: S.F. Starr, “In Defense of Greater Central Asia,” 2008, available at [http://www.ifri.org/files/
olitique_etrangere/StarrVO.pdf].
R.A. Boucher, Remarks at Electricity Beyond Borders: A Central Asia Power Sector Forum, Istanbul, Turkey, 13 June,2006, available at [http://www.state.gov/p/sca/rls/rm/2006/67838.htm].
See: K. Strachota, “New Regional In-Security System in Central Asia,” CES Studies, 22 February, 2001, availa-ble at [http://osw.waw.pl/en/epub/eprace/01/02.htm].
Testimony of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday, 8 Feb-ruary, 2007, available at [http://foreign.senate.gov/testimony/2007/RiceTestimony070208.pdf].
R.A. Boucher, Remarks to the Press New Delhi, India, 10 November, 2006, available at. [http://www.state.gov/p/
ca/rls/rm/2006/75895.htm].
See: S. Varadarajan, “Energy Key in the New Asian Architecture,” The Hindu, 25 January, 2006; A. Tarzi, D. Kim-mage, “Pipelines or Pipe-dreams?,” RFERL, 18 February, 2005.
See: Maj. E. Turner, “What is Driving India’s and Pakistan’s Interest in Joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organ-ization?” Strategic Insights, Vol. IV, Issue 8, August 2005.
See: I. Torbakov, “The West, Russia and China in Central Asia: What Kind of Game is Being Played in the Re-gion?” Journal of Central Asian and Caucasian Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2007, pp. 78-91; M.K. Bhadrakumar, “Russia’s Great Game in Central Asia,” Asia Times, 25 August, 2006.
See: M.K. Bhadrakumar, “Russia’s Great Game in Central Asia.”
See, for example: D. Kimmage, “Central Asia: Is Regional Turbulence Return of the Great Game?” RFE/RL, 19 July,2005; idem, “2005 in Review: The Geopolitical Game in Central Asia,” RFE/RL, 29 December, 2005.
See: F. Kempe, “Central Asia Emerges As Strategic Battleground,” Wall Street Journal, 16 May, 2006; N. Schmi-dle, “In Central Asia, New Players, Same Game,” Washington Post, 19 January, 2006; N. Sokov, “The Not-So-Great Game in Central Asia,” PONARS Policy Memo, No. 403, December 2005; St.A. Weiss, “Don’t Play This Great Game,” Interna-tional Herald Tribune, 9 December, 2005; I. Torbakov, “Central Asia: Replaying the Great Game,” Eurasia Daily Moni-tor, 13 October, 2005.
See: I. Torbakov, “The West, Russia and China in Central Asia: What Kind of Game is Being Played in the Re-gion?”; A.S. Tyson, “Russia and China Bullying Central Asia, U.S. Says,” Washington Post, 15 July, 2005; F.W. Engdahl,
Central Asia, Washington, and Beijing Energy Geopolitics,” GlobalResearch.ca, 19 December, 2005.
See: M.K. Bhadrakumar, “Russia’s Great Game in Central Asia”; A.S. Tyson, op. cit.; F.W. Engdahl, op. cit.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2009 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
