Central Asian Politics - The US and the EU in Central Asia - Essay Example

The most fundamental of these concern the issues of security, geopolitics and the energy potential of the region. Security In the area of security, Central Asia was catapulted to international prominence after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in America. The incident has underscored how political and economic difficulties of distant states could have repercussions in the very U.S. soil. The conflict and the authoritarian regimes the dominate Central Asia is also becoming an increasing concern for the European Union.

In a white paper, for instance, it has been expressly stated that the conflicts and despotic regimes in the region could harm European interests, first in terms of security (as with the case of the US) and, secondly, in its interest in Central Asian energy resources. (Melvin 2007, p2) Failed states like Afghanistan became breeding ground of terrorists that could attack America and Europe and their interests all over the world. Central Asia is significant in this regard. First, it is predominantly Muslim and many policymakers fear that states undergoing political and economic underdevelopment could be a fertile area for religious extremism.

John Negroponte, the former director of National Intelligence, underscored this when he testified before the US Congress that, “Central Asia remains plagued by political stagnation and repression, rampant corruption, widespread poverty, and widening socio-economic inequalities, and other problems that nurture radical sentiment and terrorism.” (Blank 2007) The case of uprising in the Uzbek city of Andijon demonstrated the actual expression of the grim projections by analysts. The crisis began when a band of armed men stormed a jail and freed several prisoners.

Soon, however, people started to join the fray, apparently seizing the opportunity to air grievances against the government. Wary of a full-scale uprising, the government ordered its soldiers to shoot the protesters. Hill and Jones stressed that “there is legitimate disagreement over the number of citizens that were in the square and even the number injured and killed, but it is clear… that government forces fired indiscriminately.” (p112) Fearing international reprisal, Uzbekistan closed itself up by rounding up and jailing oppositionists, expelling international media and human rights watchdog from the country and closing a U.S. military base.

This experience could prove to be a dangerous precedent for the other Central Asian states, which are also facing similar socio-political difficulties. There is also the perennial challenge of the tribal/clan conflict in Central Asia. Ethnic differences and fragmented nationalist aspirations have consistently destabilized the country since their independence. The proximity of Central Asia to Afghanistan aggravates the situation further in the American perspective. What this means is that the region is highly at risk of being influenced, infiltrated or co-opted by the Taliban.

This is in addition to the fact that foreign policy orientation could shift towards China and Russia, as in the case of Uzbekistan. Geopolitics Another important aspect in the Central Asian importance to America and Europe is its strategic location. It is bounded from all sides by global players that are significant in the respective foreign policy orientations of both. For instance, there is Russia to the north, China to the east,