Power Relations between Russia, China and the United States in Central Asia. An Offensive Realist Perspective

Abstract

: Central Asia is a region of great strategic interest to Russia and China, the great powers bordering the states of this geopolitical area, but also to the United States, especially after 2001, with the beginning of the war in Afghanistan. Being an area with important natural resources, but also one of strategic interest due to the intersection of trade routes between Europe and Asia, the Central Asian region is a geopolitical area where the major economic and security interests of Russia, China and the United States currently intersect. In this study, we aim to highlight a series of power relations between these three great powers of Central Asia in the post-Soviet era through a framework based in the theory of offensive realism. The conclusion we have reached is that due to the relations that have formed between the five republics of Central Asia, no major regional or extraregional power has managed to become a dominant power in the region.

Keywords

• central asia
• power relations
• offensive realism
• great powers
• hegemonic power