In The Media
Martha Brill Olcott
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REQUIRED IMAGE
In The Media
The Great Powers in Central Asia
For the past decade Central Asia has been cast as the site of a new "great game," with the United States vying for influence with Russia and China.
Published on Oct 1, 2005
Source: Current History
For the past decade Central Asia has been cast as the site of a new "great game," with the United States vying for influence with Russia and China. The label first reemerged when the United States began pushing hard for the creation of an oil pipeline route through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey (the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline) as an alternative to shipping Caspian oil and gas through Russia or Iran. Many thought that the opening of US bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan and increased military cooperation with the region's three other states--all part of the strategic deployment designed to oust the Taliban and then rebuild civil order in Afghanistan after September 11--ensured US "victory" in the game.
Reprinted with permission from Current History (October 2005) c 2005, Current History, Inc.
Click on the link above for the full text.
About the Author
Martha Brill Olcott
Former Senior Associate, Russia and Eurasia Program and, Co-director, al-Farabi Carnegie Program on Central Asia
Olcott is professor emerita at Colgate University, having taught political science there from 1974 to 2002. Prior to her work at the endowment, Olcott served as a special consultant to former secretary of state Lawrence Eagleburger.
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- China’s Unmatched Influence in Central AsiaArticle
Martha Brill Olcott
Recent Work
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
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