The importance of Central Asia. Transnational cooperation and international significance

Essay from the year 2013 in the subject Asian studies, grade: 4.01, , language: English, abstract: This essay strives to give the reader an extensive understanding of Central Asia, particularly focusing on the cooperation in Central Asia and the importance of the region internationally. This essay will focus on the main features of cooperation in Central Asia, considering predominantly the main features of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization which embodies four states in Central Asia, the Russia Federation and the People's Republic of China (PRC). Furthermore, in examining the importance of the region, this essay will primarily focus on the significance of the region for the two neighbouring regional powers – Russia and the PRC. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Central Asia, which comprises of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, has had to form bilateral and multinational relations, including the establishment of diplomatic ties. Central Asia’s landlocked location puts it at the heart of Eurasia, neighbouring regional powers, Russia and China, and in close proximity with other potential regional powers, Iran, and India, however, also surrounded by the regions of South Asia, South-East Asia, the Middle East, and Europe.