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Search Results for: Tajikistan – Page 3

China and Russia: A New Vision for Central Asia

The Kremlin's fixation on competing with the West might cost Russia dearly, as its clout in Central Asia is under strain from a rising China. Moscow will try to mitigate the tilting balance of power by applying methods of the post-liberal world order to the region. China and Russia might reach a condominium in which issues of economy and security are subdivided between them.

The FBI and Iranian Espionage

On February 13, 2021, the FBI issued a public appeal to locate Monica Witt, a former US counterintelligence agent who defected to Iran in 2013 and was formally charged with espionage in 2019. Witt is suspected of assisting Iranian intelligence and targeting her former fellow agents on behalf of the regime. She is also alleged to have disclosed the code name and classified mission of a DIA Special Access Program.

Russia and the Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Genuine Threat or Misconception?

While government officials and others have alleged a strategy that involves Russian-sponsored security organizations in recent escalations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, these claims are largely misconceptions. The conventional wisdom fails to recognize these structures as representing alternative security perceptions held by Russia and other participating states rather than traditional NATO-style military alliances.

Syria Is Tempting, But Will China Bite?

China looms large as a potentially key player alongside Russia and Iran in President Bashar Assad’s post-war Syria. With Russia and Iran lacking the financial muscle and the US and Europe refusing to engage with the Assad regime, China is, from Syria’s perspective, a shining knight on a white horse. Syria could become a key node in China’s infrastructure, telecommunications, and energy-driven Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)—but it could also drag China closer to the Middle East’s multiple conflicts.

Pandemic Sets the Stage for a Western-Asian Ideological Contest

As the shock from the coronavirus pandemic decreases over the coming months, both China and the West are likely to record successes in the economic and political realms. The crisis has set the stage for an ideological struggle between the West and China that will play a crucial role in determining the destiny of Eurasia throughout this decade and the next.

Is China Engaging in Debt Trap Diplomacy?

The pending Chinese acquisition of a stake in Tajikistan’s aluminum smelter, coupled with earlier tax concessions to Chinese companies that would substantially reduce the trickle down effect of investments for the troubled Tajik economy, suggest that China has yet to fully take into account frequent criticism of its commercial approach to Belt and Road-related projects.

Straightening Out Russian Foreign Policy

Russian foreign policy since the mid-2000s tends to be perceived in contradictory terms: as either a negative for Russia or the product of a grand strategic vision on the part of the Russian leadership. It is also often falsely perceived as representing a break with the past. Moscow’s foreign policy moves need to be viewed with a balanced perspective and should be placed in their historical context.

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