In Central Asia, China and Russia are emphasizing upon raising levels of cooperation between themselves for mutual benefit over other competing players. In effect, they have split responsibilities in the region, with Russia focusing on security issues and China contributing mainly to economic development issues, particularly through investment in infrastructure.
While the end state of the Russia–Ukraine conflict is still afar, an analysis of the conflict and war fighting so far, shows that there are enough early lessons for the strategic and military practitioners to decipher and take note of.
China’s growing military presence in Central Asia through military exercises, trainings, extending arms assistance and building military infrastructure, has an impact not only on the region but also its neighbours, especially Russia and India.
Triggered by the recent hike in auto gas prices, the current crisis in Kazakhstan appears to be an expression of the long-term frustrations of common Kazakhs with the political system.
Neither Russia and China nor the Central Asian countries have a clear strategy on how to handle the rapidly changing canvas in Afghanistan. An ambivalent waiting game tied by slow calibrated response has become the sine qua non strategy for the stakeholders in Afghanistan.
Research Fellow, Manohar Parrikar, IDSA, Col. Deepak Kumar’s commentary ‘Regional Equations Amid US Withdrawal from Afghanistan’ has been published by the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), New Delhi, on August 06, 2021.
Col. Kumar, in his commentary, analyses the developing geopolitical scenario in the region following the withdrawal of the US security umbrella, the potential security outcomes in Central Asia and the critical need for a cohesive front against the Taliban.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have come to blows over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh after a quarter of a century. There are numerous geo-strategic interests at play in the conflict that will impact regional peace and security.
The Kazakh Unrest
Triggered by the recent hike in auto gas prices, the current crisis in Kazakhstan appears to be an expression of the long-term frustrations of common Kazakhs with the political system.