263Received 20.10.2021. Revised 12.02.2022. Accepted 06.04.2022.
Acknowledgements. The article was published within the framework of the project “Post-Crisis World Order: Challenges and Technologies, competition and cooperation” under a grant from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation to conduct major research projects in priority areas of scientific and technological development (Agreement no. 075-15-2020-783).
Abstract. The hasty withdrawal of US and their NATO allies’ troops from Afghanistan and the subsequent rapid seizure of power in the country by the Taliban (banned in Russia) signal the beginning of a new stage of the geopolitical rivalry for influence in the Central Asian region. Due to the geostrategic importance of its geographical location, Central Asia historically has been a region where major global players are competing for influence. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the establishment of five Central Asian states as independent opened a new page in the geopolitical struggle for influence in the region. In contrast to the 19th century, when the Russian and British empires were engaged in the confrontation, there are now significantly more external players, but the key actors are Russia, China and the collective West. Over the past 30 years, since the start of the new race among external players to spread their influence in Central Asia, their positions have changed as well as the international “subjectivity” of the region itself, which has been gradually strengthening recently. Further confrontation between key external actors in the region will fit into the global growth trends of confrontation between Russia and China, on the one hand, and Western countries led by the US, on the other.
Keywords: Central Asia, Russia, China, USA, the West, geopolitics, the Great Game
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