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forced to appeal to OPEC and Persian Gulf for increased supply contra developing
lengthy and costly infrastructural projects to allow for the sourcing of Central Asian
supplies. Security issues in the region also caused caution from the US, with potential al-Qaeda activity feared in Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, as well as Uzbekistan
and Georgia (www.rferl.org 2018). Dr. Steven E. Miller, director of the International
Security Program at the Belfer Center claims the implications of this increased concern, for the Caspian Sea region post 9/11, means that:
For the Caspian Sea region post 9/11, means that the Caspian region is of vital
importance to the US in geostrategic terms. Here “the key zone of contestation is
now along the axis of the southern Caspian basin, which includes Iraq, Iran, and
Afghanistan.” Russia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey are all now significant
players in the region. Focus on South Asia is necessary due to the occurrence of terrorism in “stateless zones” affected by extreme forms of Islamic interpretation. The
conflicts started under the Bush Administration, those against Al-Qaeda, Afghanistan,
and Iraq, have increased the importance of the Caspian region, as have tensions in
Iran and Iraq. These factors all mount up to a significant continuing US presence in
the region (www.belfercenter.org 2017).
Central Asia and the Caspian’s connection to the global economy and energy
market through infrastructure such as railways, new pipelines, roads have been
hoped to create new opportunities for the region and for foreign companies, especially energy firms interested in profiting from the region’s location at the nexus of
new transit links and transcontinental trade (Mankoff 2014:2). Jeffrey Mankoff
claims that after 9/11, the US had to support which projects encouraging private
investment, but the lack of commercial viability accompanying its goals due to the
extreme political risks meant these were unlikely to be more than pipe dreams
(Mankoff 2014:2).
The US shares many interests with other countries in the region, including a
striving to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and the growth of anti-Western
radical political Islam. The generalization and expansion of democracy, growth of
human rights, protection of the global environment, and free market economy,
and thus the conditions assumed required for the exploitation of resources and
raw materials of Central Asian countries, on the other hand, were foreseen as part
of efforts to shore up the influence of American trade and capital in the region’s
economy.
The events of September 11th led the United States to fight terrorism, centering
on Afghanistan, with forces deployed to Central Asia and carry out a major military
strike against Afghanistan from these footholds. However, the fact remains that
Central Asia has never played a central role in US strategies unless in terms of
greater security goals, whether vis-à-vis Afghanistan, Iran, or Russia, and thus
White House policy toward the republics of the region has always been in the midst
of a larger geopolitical plan. This thread carries through in the formulation of the
New Silk Road, which can be seen as an attempt by the United States to simply
lower the complexity of local conditions and indigenous agendas by encouraging
the linking of Central Asian republics independently.
Post 9/11 US Foreign Policy in Central Asia
forced to appeal to OPEC and Persian Gulf for increased supply contra developing
lengthy and costly infrastructural projects to allow for the sourcing of Central Asian
supplies. Security issues in the region also caused caution from the US, with potential al-Qaeda activity feared in Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, as well as Uzbekistan
and Georgia (www.rferl.org 2018). Dr. Steven E. Miller, director of the International
Security Program at the Belfer Center claims the implications of this increased concern, for the Caspian Sea region post 9/11, means that:
For the Caspian Sea region post 9/11, means that the Caspian region is of vital
importance to the US in geostrategic terms. Here “the key zone of contestation is
now along the axis of the southern Caspian basin, which includes Iraq, Iran, and
Afghanistan.” Russia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and Turkey are all now significant
players in the region. Focus on South Asia is necessary due to the occurrence of terrorism in “stateless zones” affected by extreme forms of Islamic interpretation. The
conflicts started under the Bush Administration, those against Al-Qaeda, Afghanistan,
and Iraq, have increased the importance of the Caspian region, as have tensions in
Iran and Iraq. These factors all mount up to a significant continuing US presence in
the region (www.belfercenter.org 2017).
Central Asia and the Caspian’s connection to the global economy and energy
market through infrastructure such as railways, new pipelines, roads have been
hoped to create new opportunities for the region and for foreign companies, especially energy firms interested in profiting from the region’s location at the nexus of
new transit links and transcontinental trade (Mankoff 2014:2). Jeffrey Mankoff
claims that after 9/11, the US had to support which projects encouraging private
investment, but the lack of commercial viability accompanying its goals due to the
extreme political risks meant these were unlikely to be more than pipe dreams
(Mankoff 2014:2).
The US shares many interests with other countries in the region, including a
striving to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and the growth of anti-Western
radical political Islam. The generalization and expansion of democracy, growth of
human rights, protection of the global environment, and free market economy,
and thus the conditions assumed required for the exploitation of resources and
raw materials of Central Asian countries, on the other hand, were foreseen as part
of efforts to shore up the influence of American trade and capital in the region’s
economy.
The events of September 11th led the United States to fight terrorism, centering
on Afghanistan, with forces deployed to Central Asia and carry out a major military
strike against Afghanistan from these footholds. However, the fact remains that
Central Asia has never played a central role in US strategies unless in terms of
greater security goals, whether vis-à-vis Afghanistan, Iran, or Russia, and thus
White House policy toward the republics of the region has always been in the midst
of a larger geopolitical plan. This thread carries through in the formulation of the
New Silk Road, which can be seen as an attempt by the United States to simply
lower the complexity of local conditions and indigenous agendas by encouraging
the linking of Central Asian republics independently.
Post 9/11 US Foreign Policy in Central Asia