China's Rise and Reconfiguration of Central Asia's Geopolitics: A Case for U.S. Pivot" to Eurasia"

Abstract

Abstract : China s global rise has prompted numerous discussions and studies of this historically monumental phenomenon and its implications for the world. On the one hand, China s emergence as a global player has generated a lot of optimism for global development and economic convergence. On the other, it has spurred concerns about possible collisions on the world stage as existing and emerging powers seek to retain and redesign their roles and influences. Related opportunities and fears have been especially pronounced in countries neighboring China, including in Central Asia where the newly independent and post-Soviet republics face a possibility of yet another imperial expansion due to strategic advances of the Middle Kingdom. As the strongest power on the planet, the United States has a major stake in China s and the region s future because both directly affect the U.S. global standing and the U.S.-led global economic and security order. In this insightful and forward-looking work, Mr. Roman Muzalevsky, a widely published analyst and author of Central Asia s Shrinking Connectivity Gap: Implications for U.S. Strategy and From Frozen Ties to Strategic Engagement: U.S.-Iranian Relationship in 2030, assesses China s global rise through the prism of geopolitical and geo-economic forces sweeping through Central Asia. Mr. Muzalevsky concludes that the ability of the United States to stay relevant globally hinges on its capacity to boost its lacking regional strategic presence in Central Asia. The author advocates for a robust, direct, and long-term U.S. engagement with the region. Washington, he argues, needs to complement its Pivot to the Pacific with a Pivot to Eurasia in order to shape China s rise on both flanks and ensure a more managed evolution of the global economic and security architecture.