Central Asia in Russian Foreign Policy: Losses and Opportunities

Abstract

The Central Asia region is a complex geopolitical tangle of contradictions and an ethno-religious knot, comparable in the degree of influence of national and religious feelings on the political development of the world system with the Balkans and the Caucasus. For Russia, this is a zone of special interests, including in connection with the residence of a large Russian-speaking population in the Central Asian states. However, while strengthening its position in the world, Russia is losing its status in the Central Asian region. In order to return or strengthen the role of a leader in these countries, new approaches, formats of interaction are needed, and, above all, in the social and humanitarian spheres. The article examines four groups of problems: the reasons for the world-political importance of the countries of the region, the determining importance of such development factors as the economy, resources of soft power and religion.