Integration Processes in Central Asia: The Clash of Interests of External Factors

The article examines the prospects and limitations of the development of integration processes in the Central Asian region, taking into account several prominent external players in relation to the region — Russia, the United States and the EU (“collective West”) China The chosen topic is relevant for several reasons: the high resource capacity of the Central Asian region, the peculiarities of its geopolitical and geostrategic position, the growth of foreign policy and foreign economic activity of the countries of the region The authors of the article proceed from the hypothesis that the interests of the main large geopolitical players: Russia, China and the West, play one of the important roles in these processes The main problem considered in this article is to what extent the interests of large players coincide or contradict each other and whether they contribute to the interests of Eurasian economic integration The study was carried out using resource-actor analysis, taking into account the peculiarities of the behaviour of foreign policy actors The study identifed the most conflicting points on the agenda of large external players, possible areas for cooperation, and factors, that influence Russian integration initiatives in the region

1. Krivopalov A.A., ed. From Turkestan to Central Asia: The political future of the region. Moscow: Nauchny expert; 2016. (In Russ.).

2. Sheives K. China Turns West: Beijing’s Contemporary Strategy Towards Central Asia. Pacific Affairs. 2006;79(2):205–224.

3. Iskakova G.K. Regional Security in Central Asia and the Strategies of Russia, the USA and China. PolitBook. 2014;(4):8–51.

4. Malysheva D. B. Post-Soviet States of Central Asia in the Politics of China. Mirovaya ekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya = World Economy and International Relations. 2019;63(5):101–108. (In Russ.).

5. Bratersky M.V., Suslov D.V. Russia, the USA, and China in Central Asia. SShA & Kanada: ekonomika, politika, kul’tura = USA and Canada: Economy, Politics, Culture. 2015;(4):3–17. (In Russ.).

6. Stronski P., Ng N. Cooperation and Competition: Russia and China in Central Asia, the Russian Far East, and the Arctic, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2018. URL: https://carnegieendowment.org/2018/02/28/cooperation-and-competition-russia-and-china-in-central-asia-russian-far-east-and-arctic-pub-75673.

7. Tofan A.V. Strategic interests of the United States, Russia, and China in Central Asia at the present stage. Interaktivnaya nauka = Interactive science. 2016;(10):86–90. (In Russ.).

8. Shenin C. Y. Current US policy in Central Asia: Interest groups and opportunities for consensus. SShA &Kanada: ekonomika, politika, kul’tura = USA & Canada: Economics, Politics, Culture. 2017;(12):79–95. (In Russ.).

9. Wishnick E. Russia, China, and the United States in Central Asia: Prospects for Great Power Competition and Cooperation in the Shadow of the Georgian Crisis. Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College, 2009. URL:https://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep11652?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents.

10. Shcherba K.D. Political features of the formation of integration institutions of the Eurasian Economic Union. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 27: Globalistika i geopolitika = Bulletin of the Moscow University. Series 27: Globalistics and Geopolitics. 2019;(3):75–86. (In Russ.).

11. Mahamatov T.T. Dialectics of civilizations West and East in the New Great Silk Road. Gumanitarnye Nauki. Vestnik Finasovogo Universiteta = Humanities. Bulletin of the Financial University. 2020;10(2):47–53. (In Russ.).