61. Strategic Assessment of Central Eurasia
- Author:
- C. Richard Nelson, Charles Fairbanks, S. Frederick Starr, and Kenneth Weisbrode
- Publication Date:
- 01-2001
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Atlantic Council
- Abstract:
- This assessment outlines a basis for U.S. national security planning related to Central Eurasia over the next ten years. The region covered encompasses the five former Soviet states of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) and the three former Soviet states of the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). Although the two halves of the region are very different and attract the attention of the major powers in distinct ways, planners should avoid rigidly compartmentalizing them given the economic and, to a certain extent, cultural, linkages that exist. It is most important to appreciate the role these linkages play in the geopolitical mindset of the other major powers, namely Iran and Russia, and to a lesser extent, China, India, Pakistan and Turkey. In fact, these linkages are expanding as trends and developments in the region become increasingly transnational, and as the regions overall profile in global affairs becomes more prominent.
- Topic:
- Economics
- Political Geography:
- Pakistan, United States, China, Central Asia, Turkey, India, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan