... Tajikistan joined the Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism, a new exclusive security framework initiated by China aimed at countering extremism and terrorism, much at Russia’s discontent [
xiii
].
Moscow, however, is not ignoring what China has been doing in the area, so much so that newspapers’ headlines have been talking of the “new great game”. While Russia still uses “national security” as a justification for all its moves in Central Asia, this may not be the only reason [
xiv
]. The deployment of UAVs in Kyrgyzstan and of modern S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems in Tajikistan may hide a strong will to keep the area under Russia’s traditional sphere of influence.
The limited bilateral cooperation, the ineffectiveness of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization ...
... guards are scant, especially since the Kulob Regiment was relocated from the 201st Russian military base to Dushanbe. Yet the government has so far managed to control... ... militants. In contrast, today it
includes
hundreds of thousands of militants from all the Central Asian countries, as well as China, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Chechnya.
The ultimate reasons for the rise in extremism... ...
Uzbek authorities and security forces have the situation in the country under control.
Kyrgyzstan: Bad Influence from Neighbours
Extremist groups traditionally threaten the...
The Working Group on the Future of U.S.-Russia Relations’ Report
Central Asia stands out as a comparatively “nontoxic” region where there are limited, but not insignificant, opportunities for U.S.-Russia collaboration both bilaterally and within multilateral frameworks: in the space industry, civil security, job-creation ...