240
Russia had long since benefited from its political and technical involvement in
the region, absorbing oil and gas sourced in Central Asia and the Caspian into its
own pipelines to bolster its own supplies.
Post 9/11 US Foreign Policy in the Region
The United States shares many interests with other countries in the region, including the desire to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and the growth of antiWestern radical political Islam, and to foster the expansion of democracy, growth of
human rights, protection of the global environment, and free market economy, and
thus the conditions long-held as required for the exploitation of resources and raw
materials of Central Asian countries. On the other hand, many of these purported
missions were suspected of shoring up the influence of American trade and capital
in the region’s economy by both elites within the region and those countries in the
region not linked to the American sphere.
The events of September 11, 2001 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.
US Caspian Policy Under the Obama Era
Obama continued many of the policies of the Bush era, but where their approaches
differed spanned the extent to which they each faced different challenges. In terms
of similarities, both presidents managed relations with Russia carefully, at times
cooperating with Moscow on areas of mutual interest. In terms of fostering alliances
in the Caspian and Central Asia, a certain amount of diplomatic activity continued,
with Obama’s Secretary of State, John Kerry, visiting five countries in the region as
part of the C5+1 project. One of the main focuses of US diplomatic efforts in the
region which continued from the Bush era was the promotion of gas and oil pipelines to the EU. The fruit of this drive comes in the form of the TAP gas pipeline,
which will represent the fulfillment of the southern corridor dream, connecting the
Caspian to the European gas grid. Similarly, under Obama, the US continued to
isolate Iran from the region, essentially ensuring it lost its position on the global oil
and gas markets through punitive sanctions and international pressure; however, it
7 Conclusion
Russia had long since benefited from its political and technical involvement in
the region, absorbing oil and gas sourced in Central Asia and the Caspian into its
own pipelines to bolster its own supplies.
Post 9/11 US Foreign Policy in the Region
The United States shares many interests with other countries in the region, including the desire to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and the growth of antiWestern radical political Islam, and to foster the expansion of democracy, growth of
human rights, protection of the global environment, and free market economy, and
thus the conditions long-held as required for the exploitation of resources and raw
materials of Central Asian countries. On the other hand, many of these purported
missions were suspected of shoring up the influence of American trade and capital
in the region’s economy by both elites within the region and those countries in the
region not linked to the American sphere.
The events of September 11, 2001 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.
US Caspian Policy Under the Obama Era
Obama continued many of the policies of the Bush era, but where their approaches
differed spanned the extent to which they each faced different challenges. In terms
of similarities, both presidents managed relations with Russia carefully, at times
cooperating with Moscow on areas of mutual interest. In terms of fostering alliances
in the Caspian and Central Asia, a certain amount of diplomatic activity continued,
with Obama’s Secretary of State, John Kerry, visiting five countries in the region as
part of the C5+1 project. One of the main focuses of US diplomatic efforts in the
region which continued from the Bush era was the promotion of gas and oil pipelines to the EU. The fruit of this drive comes in the form of the TAP gas pipeline,
which will represent the fulfillment of the southern corridor dream, connecting the
Caspian to the European gas grid. Similarly, under Obama, the US continued to
isolate Iran from the region, essentially ensuring it lost its position on the global oil
and gas markets through punitive sanctions and international pressure; however, it
7 Conclusion