... design and internal agendas should call into question whether it should be classified as an IO at all. Renaming it a politically-motivated axis of convenience is less grand but perhaps a more accurate description of its nature and functions.
China
China's main position within Central Asia is economic, though certain security issues also exist. China is extremely interested in currying favor with Central Asia to help feed its voracious energy appetite. On the other hand issues of ethnic unrest in Xinjiang, China's western ...
... it 10 million tons provided by Kazakhstan. For Kazakhstan, this accounts for about 16% of its oil exports.
As trading partners, China as a large economy is more significant for Central Asian states than Central Asian states for China. The turnover of China-Central Asia trade constitutes a little more than one percentage point of China’s foreign trade. Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are the top two trading partners for China in the region. In 2012 China-Kazakhstan trade volume reached ﹩25,7 billion, China-Kyrgyzstan ...
An international conference entitled “Creating a business cooperation community encompassing China and Central Asia” was held in the Center for Russian and Central Asian Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences on November 4-5, 2013. The conference was devoted to the concept of the Silk Road proposed by China’s president Xi Jinping ...
... prolonged strategy of “multiplying its foreign linkages and reducing dependence upon any one partner”; whilst also varying supply routes via land and sea (Blank, 1991: 649-51; 2010). I have explored some of these partners in my older post (e.g. Central Asia or Russia; see: China Post), but extent of success via diversification depends on a heap of reasons. A lot will be down to future growth in demand, amount of oil needed to make $1000 of GDP (currently falling, which is positive), stability in other states, domestic output ...
... perspectives of joining the Customs Union can play against Russia in the regional “game”, no matter how generous she is to her allies. China ‘s mostly economic relationships with Central Asian states make it look like there is nothing Central Asia can get from China in the terms of security, though China is also participating in military training in the region. The question concerning China is mostly - will it actually interfere in case of a real security threat, or it’s going to stay on it’s track ...
... Europe.
It is not yet clear how or to what degree all these developments would influence the precise geo-economic configurations in Central Asia in particular, or in “Greater Central Asia”, which may be defined as comprising not just the five Central Asian republics but also: in China, the whole of the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region plus most of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Republic; in Russia, southern Russia including most of southern Siberia; and also northern and northwestern Afghanistan; plus northeastern Iran. By then, ...
... alongside it also being a land based supplier, which cuts out the need for sea based supplies (China fears oversupply via the sea as this can be cut off in case of war). This 'ace' is ‘equity share’ in assets. In essence, Central Asia has given China the keys to its cities via actually owning all areas of oil and gas production directly, but in Russia or elsewhere, the situation is different as China's efforts to acquire equity have come to no avail. China argues that Russia ought to ...
... hope to share some of the findings and research conducted. In this first post of two-part special, a Europe-Russia focused question and answer session is outlined with Dr. Tatiana Mitrova, whereas in the subsequent second post, coming later, we look at China-Russia.
Europe-Russia ‘Special Deal Severed’:
In normal day-to-day life Europe has a stable and diversified supply structure. It is currently doing enough to diversify its supplies so it does not undermine its energy security,...
... the Institute of European, Russian and European Studies, Carleton University, Canada.
Interviewer:
Maria Prosviryakova
, Russian International Affairs Council.
Dr. Robert M. Cutler
China’s influence is growing rapidly in Central Asia. Thus, the Central Asia-China gas pipeline was open in 2009. China built strong ties with Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. Why is it that cooperation with China appeals to these countries of Central Asia?
It is slightly different in the two cases that you mention. Turkmenistan's ...
... “security” in exchange for market outlets and inexpensive imports. Indeed, Russia sells military equipment and buys up central Asian energy to export it to the West, while it also imports cheap labour to compensate for its declining population.
... ... Fukuyama predicted in The End of History), we are seeing the rise of old empires and new elites who in the case of Russia (and China) combine elements of bureaucratic capitalism with aspects of authoritarian plutocracy. That is why critical engagement at ...
