THE US AND RUSSIAN POLICY TOWARD CENTRAL ASIA IN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE GEOPOLITICAL THEORY

Abstract

Central Asia (CA) has a large geostrategic and geopolitical importance due to its central location in Eurasia and its rich energy resources in the Caspian region. After the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), establishment of new independent states in the region increased the interest of great powers in the region. The influence of the Russian Federation (RF) in the region has continued after the collapse of the USSR as it was during the time of the USSR. After the collapse of the USSR, superpowers like United States of America (USA) and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) began to establish their presence in the region in order to balance the Russian policy in the region. The interest of the USA in CA countries in early years of independence was seen in areas of economic aid and energy, while the influence of Russia has continued intensively in the political, economic, energy, and military fields. In this context, the USA and the Russia have entered into a competition to gain more military influence and space in the region. This study analyzes the effectiveness of the strategies applied by the US and Russia towards Central Asia within the framework of geopolitical theory.

Keywords

• Geopolitical theory
• the US policy toward Central Asia
• Russia’s Central Asia policy
• energy policy
• military bases

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