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Business and P2People meetings. The US believes that regional economic connectivity is more than border crossings, infrastructure, and the movement of goods
and services. It was intended that the expansion of regional markets and sharing of
ideas would create opportunities for youth, woman, and minorities. On the understanding that this, in turn, would boost regional stability and prosperity, many scholarships have been awarded, and symposiums such as The Central Asia-Afghanistan
Women’s Economic Symposium and South Asia Women’s Entrepreneurship
Symposium, along with fruitful trade meetings, have been founded (www.state.
gov 2018).
The transit of natural gas from Turkmenistan to the South Asian region was one
of the main pillars of the US New Silk Road Initiative. According to Hillary Clinton,
the TAPI project would help Pakistan and India meet their growing energy demands,
and at the same time provide transit revenues for both Afghanistan and Pakistan
(www.thediplomat.com 2017a, b). Turkmenistan, as a major player in this project,
was to supply more than 85% of the financial resources needed for TAPI, while
Saudi Arabia also sought to invest.
A main problem with the project was the security of the pipeline, which was carried out in Afghanistan from four areas. During the signing of the statement, a statement was issued by the Taliban leaders, which was also made available to the media,
according to which the Taliban promised that security would not be a problem and
the gas pipeline will not be in danger (www.ilnanews.com 2018). In any case,
Turkmenistan is now the main gas exporter to China (following a dispute over the
price of gas with Iran), its sole customer. If the UPI operates, Turkmenistan will
have a major role in supplying the resources of the two main countries of India and
China and will become an energy actor in Eurasia (www.ilnanews.com 2018).
Some analysts argue that US New Silk Road Initiative unnecessarily geopoliticizes what should be a standard trade policy. According to Alexsander Cooly, the
policy is designed to consciously remove Russia, China, and Iran from the energy
policies of the region. It is said to signal that the US “has some sort of master plan”
(www.thediplomat.com 2017a, b).
Since 2011, the New Silk Road Initiative became the main metaphor which US
foreign policymakers used to frame their strategy toward Central Asia and
Afghanistan. Yet by June 2013, during John Kerry’s trip to India, the project was
barely mentioned. By January 2015, Barrak Obama, himself on a trip to India to
attend Indian Republic Day as a guest of honor, went the entire trip without mentioning the US New Silk Road policy at all (Laruelle 2015;365).
It seems that during the Clinton era the US was far more interested in the Central
Asian and Caspian Sea region in general, while with the advent of the New Silk
Road Strategy, the main concentration was limited to energy cooperation between
Central Asia and South Asia. The US’ major focus here lay on the TAPI project. The
US strongly supported exporting Turkmen gas to South Asia via TAPI and to Europe
via Trans-Caspian Pipeline projects. During the Bush and Obama administration
both supported these projects, and it remains to be seen that the Trump administration would support such projects as well.
Hillary Clinton’s Pivot to Asia
Business and P2People meetings. The US believes that regional economic connectivity is more than border crossings, infrastructure, and the movement of goods
and services. It was intended that the expansion of regional markets and sharing of
ideas would create opportunities for youth, woman, and minorities. On the understanding that this, in turn, would boost regional stability and prosperity, many scholarships have been awarded, and symposiums such as The Central Asia-Afghanistan
Women’s Economic Symposium and South Asia Women’s Entrepreneurship
Symposium, along with fruitful trade meetings, have been founded (www.state.
gov 2018).
The transit of natural gas from Turkmenistan to the South Asian region was one
of the main pillars of the US New Silk Road Initiative. According to Hillary Clinton,
the TAPI project would help Pakistan and India meet their growing energy demands,
and at the same time provide transit revenues for both Afghanistan and Pakistan
(www.thediplomat.com 2017a, b). Turkmenistan, as a major player in this project,
was to supply more than 85% of the financial resources needed for TAPI, while
Saudi Arabia also sought to invest.
A main problem with the project was the security of the pipeline, which was carried out in Afghanistan from four areas. During the signing of the statement, a statement was issued by the Taliban leaders, which was also made available to the media,
according to which the Taliban promised that security would not be a problem and
the gas pipeline will not be in danger (www.ilnanews.com 2018). In any case,
Turkmenistan is now the main gas exporter to China (following a dispute over the
price of gas with Iran), its sole customer. If the UPI operates, Turkmenistan will
have a major role in supplying the resources of the two main countries of India and
China and will become an energy actor in Eurasia (www.ilnanews.com 2018).
Some analysts argue that US New Silk Road Initiative unnecessarily geopoliticizes what should be a standard trade policy. According to Alexsander Cooly, the
policy is designed to consciously remove Russia, China, and Iran from the energy
policies of the region. It is said to signal that the US “has some sort of master plan”
(www.thediplomat.com 2017a, b).
Since 2011, the New Silk Road Initiative became the main metaphor which US
foreign policymakers used to frame their strategy toward Central Asia and
Afghanistan. Yet by June 2013, during John Kerry’s trip to India, the project was
barely mentioned. By January 2015, Barrak Obama, himself on a trip to India to
attend Indian Republic Day as a guest of honor, went the entire trip without mentioning the US New Silk Road policy at all (Laruelle 2015;365).
It seems that during the Clinton era the US was far more interested in the Central
Asian and Caspian Sea region in general, while with the advent of the New Silk
Road Strategy, the main concentration was limited to energy cooperation between
Central Asia and South Asia. The US’ major focus here lay on the TAPI project. The
US strongly supported exporting Turkmen gas to South Asia via TAPI and to Europe
via Trans-Caspian Pipeline projects. During the Bush and Obama administration
both supported these projects, and it remains to be seen that the Trump administration would support such projects as well.
Hillary Clinton’s Pivot to Asia