Great Games, Local Rules: The New Great Power Contest in Central Asia

The struggle between Russia and Great Britain over Central Asia in the nineteenth century was the original "great game." But in the past quarter century, a new "great game" has emerged, pitting America against a newly aggressive Russia and a resource-hungry China, all struggling for influence over the same region, now one of the most volatile areas in the world: the long border region stretching from Iran through Pakistan to Kashmir. In Great Games, Local Rules, Alexander Cooley, one of America's most respected international relations scholars, explores the dynamics of the new competition for control of the region since 9/11. All three great powers have crafted strategies to increase their power in the area, which includes Afghanistan and the former Soviet republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. Each nation is pursuing important goals: basing rights for the US, access to natural resources for the Chinese, and increased political influence for the Russians. However, overlooked in all of the talk about this new great game is fact that the Central Asian governments have proven themselves critical agents in their own right, establishing local rules for external power involvement that serve to fend off foreign interest. As a result, despite a decade of intense interest from the United States, Russia, and China, Central Asia remains a collection of segmented states, and the external competition has merely reinforced the sovereign authority of the individual Central Asian governments. A careful and surprising analysis of how small states interact with great powers in a vital region, Great Games, Local Rules greatly advances our understanding of how global politics actually works in the contemporary era.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: The New Multipolar Politics of Influence in Central Asia Chapter 2: Local Rules: The Origins and Politics of Central Asian Regime Survival Chapter 3: Washington's Strategy: Juggling Interests and Values on the Road to Afghanistan Chapter 4: Moscow's Strategy: The Quest for a Privileged Role Chapter 5: Beijing's Strategy: The SCO, Xinjiang and China's Great Leap Westward Chapter 6: Anti-Terrorism, Democratization and Human Rights Chapter 7: Geopolitical Competition and Political Stability: The Case of Kyrgyzstan Chapter 8: Corruption and Governance: Competition and Collusion in Contracting Chapter 9: Regional Integration: So Many Proposals, So Little Cooperation Chapter 10: Conclusion: Central Asia's Multipolar Politics in Comparative Perspective Appendix 1: Laws Passed after Color Revolutions that Introduced New Restrictions on NGOs and the Media Appendix 2: Election Monitor Assessments, ODIHR/SCO/CIS

About the Author :
Alexander Cooley is the Tow Professor for Distinguished Scholars and Practitioners in the Department of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University. His books include Contracting States, Logics of Hierarchy, and Base Politics.

Review :
"The borderlands of Central Asia are plagued with terrorism, poverty and an immense power struggle for the land mass of Asia. The region is ripe for large scale economic and political unrest. Cooley combines scholarship with expertise and great skill as a writer to give us by far the best analysis of Central Asia during the past decadeELA well-conceived and comprehensive work."--Ahmed Rashid, author of Taliban and Pakistan on the Brink "Central Asia remains the enigmatic heartland of geopolitics. As Alex Cooley's important book demonstrates, no great power-the U.S., Russia nor China-has yet mastered the art of negotiating with a host of crafty patrimonial regimes who dictate resources, contracts and access as much as the reverse. This is a region that must, therefore, be understood from the inside out, rather than during the first iteration of the Great Game in the 19th century. As it did with the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Central Asia could still create a perfect geopolitical storm as ossified political systems undergo transition, American bases are vacated, and energy pipelines extend in all directions. The 21st century Great Game will have both new players and new rules."--Parag Khanna, author of The Second World: Empires and Influence in the New Global Order and How to Run the World: Charting a Course to the Next Renaissance "Alex Cooley knows his stuff. With objective and penetrating research and analysis, Cooley peels away the fog and shadow that have always obscured this prime geopolitical region."--Steve LeVine, author of The Oil and the Glory "A book with multi-faceted value. Great Games, Local Rules provides in-depth analysis of a key yet understudied region, and does so informed by history, imbued with international relations theory, and bearing on key policy issues, all from a well-respected scholar."--Bruce W. Jentleson, Professor of Public Policy and Political Science, Duke University "The field of Central Asian studies needs this book. Cliché-ridden thinking blights much popular commentary on the region and the putative competition under way there among China, Russia, and the United States. Cooley brings firsthand research and a detached, sensible eye to a complex, fast-moving subject..."--Foreign Affairs "...an exceptional and critical analysis. Cooley's book offers the prospect of a new research agenda to study the international politics of Central Asia in terms of both its powerful and misleading discourses and its corrupt and profitable practices. It is an important book that deserves to be widely read among scholars of IR who seek to make sense of what 'multipolarity' means today."--International Affairs "...wide-ranging and compelling..."--Survival