Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in late 1991, the geopolitical scene in the center of the Eurasian continent has altered fundamentally. The independence of five Soviet Central Asian republics, and the enduring weakness of these states created a political vacuum that external powers have ever since competed to fill. Soon after this ground-breaking development, a paradigm evolved defining Russia, Turkey and Iran as major players in the entire ‘southern tier' of the former Soviet Union, that is the Caucasus and Central Asia. Russia was correctly identified as a retreating hegemonic power, whereas Turkey and Iran were seen as competitors for influence in especially the six Muslim states that gained independence, that is the Central Asian states and Azerbaijan. This paradigm, which accorded little importance to other international or regional actors, has to a large extent survived in media as well as academia. [1] However, almost ten years after the Soviet collapse, viewing......

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Title: The Central Asian Game
Approximate Word Count: 6422
Approximate Pages: 26 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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