Berman: Russia Shows the U.S. the Central Asia Door
July 11, 2007 :: Jane's Information Group :: Analysis
Ilan Berman, Vice President for Policy at the American Foreign Policy Council, analyzed Russian and U.S. rivalry in Central Asia in the July 11 edition of Jane's Defence Weekly. In the aftermath of September 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin had acquiesced to U.S. air bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to fight the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. However,
[F]our years later, America's regional presence is dwindling rapidly. Already, disputes with local governments have led to the ouster of US forces from one strategic facility, the Karshi-Khanabad base in Uzbekistan, and called into question the future of its deployment in Manas [Kyrgyzstan]. Diplomatically, meanwhile, Washington faces growing regional hostility, punctuated by public calls from the six-member Russian- and Chinese-led Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) for an exit of US and allied forces from the region.
While the U.S. was quick to promote governmental reform and human rights, Russia offered "value-free" cooperation.
Fearful of the possibility of a permanent US military outpost in its immediate neighbourhood and of the potential for US-assisted democratic change there, the Kremlin has adopted a multifaceted strategy of economic and political outreach designed to diminish US influence there...Moscow...has pursued a "value free" approach to regional ties, emphasising co-operation on military, strategic and energy matters over structural and political reforms.
The autocratic regimes of Central Asia thus rediscovered a regional power that would aid them while condoning a slide back into autocracy. Compounding the problem, the U.S. has shifted its focus back to Iraq and the Middle East and away from Central Asia. Berman concludes that the U.S. ignores the region and its autocratic drift at its peril, considering its geopolitical and economic importance. (Link)
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