RUSIA Y EL ESPACIO EUROASIÁTICO: SU INFLUENCIA EN ASIA CENTRAL

Abstract

This article reviews the relations between Russia and Central Asian countries in the past decades. This area, made up by the Republics of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, has been considered by Putin's Russia as its backyard, while the US, at least until the arrival of Trump, sees it as a necessary bridgehead in its determined policy of stabilization of Afghanistan through the so-called Northern Distribution Network (NDN), today the main transit route for the allied military forces in the area. The geostrategic interests of the Russian leader are linked to the historical past of the former USSR. With its proposals for the integration and institutionalization of the Eurasian space and its desire to remain as a key player in the decision-making process, linked to energy resources, Russia shares with other key countries in the area, such as China - which is struggling for greater influence in the area - India or Iran, territorial, economic and security interests, maintaining a complex balance blurred by the strong presence of Islamic extremism’s elements.

Keywords

• Putin
• Russia
• Central Asia
• United States
• China
• Iran
• EU
• energy resources