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The struggle between Russia and Great Britain over Central Asia in the nineteenth century was the original "great game." But in the past quarter century, a new "great game" has emerged, pitting America against a newly aggressive Russia and a resource-hungry China, all struggling for influence over the same region, now one of the most volatile areas in the world: the long border region stretching from Iran through Pakistan to Kashmir.
In Great Games, Local Rules, Alexander Cooley, one of America's most respected international relations scholars, explores the dynamics of the new competition for control of the region since 9/11. All three great powers have crafted strategies to increase their power in the area, which includes Afghanistan and the former Soviet republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. Each nation is pursuing important goals: basing rights for the US, access to natural resources for the Chinese, and increased political influence for the Russians.
However, overlooked in all of the talk about this new great game is fact that the Central Asian governments have proven themselves critical agents in their own right, establishing local rules for external power involvement that serve to fend off foreign interest. As a result, despite a decade of intense interest from the United States, Russia, and China, Central Asia remains a collection of segmented states, and the external competition has merely reinforced the sovereign authority of the individual Central Asian governments. A careful and surprising analysis of how small states interact with great powers in a vital region, Great Games, Local Rules greatly advances our understanding of how global politics actually works in the contemporary era.
Chapter 1: The New Multipolar Politics of Influence in Central Asia Chapter 2: Local Rules: The Origins and Politics of Central Asian Regime Survival Chapter 3: Washington's Strategy: Juggling Interests and Values on the Road to Afghanistan Chapter 4: Moscow's Strategy: The Quest for a Privileged Role Chapter 5: Beijing's Strategy: The SCO, Xinjiang and China's Great Leap Westward Chapter 6: Anti-Terrorism, Democratization and Human Rights Chapter 7: Geopolitical Competition and Political Stability: The Case of Kyrgyzstan Chapter 8: Corruption and Governance: Competition and Collusion in Contracting Chapter 9: Regional Integration: So Many Proposals, So Little Cooperation Chapter 10: Conclusion: Central Asia's Multipolar Politics in Comparative Perspective
Appendix 1: Laws Passed after Color Revolutions that Introduced New Restrictions on NGOs and the Media Appendix 2: Election Monitor Assessments, ODIHR/SCO/CIS
Overview
The struggle between Russia and Great Britain over Central Asia in the nineteenth century was the original "great game." But in the past quarter century, a new "great game" has emerged, pitting America against a newly aggressive Russia and a resource-hungry China, all struggling for influence over the same region, now one of the most volatile areas in the world: the long border region stretching from Iran through Pakistan to Kashmir.
In Great Games, Local Rules, Alexander ...