Iran’s Relations with Central Asia – A strategic analysis

Abstract

The twentieth century political landscape of the world is strewn with conflicts whose sources lie as much in the engagement of extra regional powers, as they lay in the fault lines of their regional security environments. The paper attempts to expose the underlying tensions within Iran’s immediate security environment which are exacerbated by the involvement of the hyperactive super power, the U.S. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the independence of the Central Asian States has set into motion intense systemic changes in Iran’s geo political environment. These changes have largely undermined Iran’s geo-political significance and increased its vulnerability to pressures from various international and regional sources. Growing U.S. unilateralism and the post 9/11 war on terrorism have enhanced Iran’s security predicament as it grapples with the manifold increase and concentration of U.S. military forces along its borders.