Strategic Assessment

This essay surveys the contest underway between the major powers in Central Asia and the Caucasus, the geopolitical sphere adjacent to the Middle East that at once influences and is influenced by processes at work in the region. The area includes the former Soviet Unit (FSU) states bordering on the “crisis area” south of the Muslim states between Turkey and China, a sphere that is a locus of international tension and a hothouse for radical Islam and international terrorism. The region of Central Asia and the Caucasus has long been a bone of contention between powers; in the nineteenth century the struggle for control of the area was known as “the Big Game.” Today, a similar game, known as “the new big game,” is underway involving the great powers as well as the states in the region. The prize for the winner will be both geopolitical and economic.