Introduction

Abstract

Central Asia is commonly associated with two popular concepts—the Silk Road and the Great Game. The first underlines Central Asia’s association with China and its connecting role between the East and the West; the second exemplified great power rivalry through Russia-Britain competition for control of their frontiers. Contemporary studies of Central Asia in various disciplines often rely on these two concepts to draw analogies for modern regional dynamics. While neither accurately reflects the nature of Central Asia’s position in relation to external actors, the two concepts do provide essential clues for analyzing modern Central Asia. First, after decades of isolation from each other, China and its Central Asian neighbors began interacting as independent entities. Second, the nature of the relationship between Russia and China, the two main external actors in Central Asia, is incredibly complicated, which implies that regional dynamics do resemble a ‘game’. Sino-Russian relations play an inseparable role, and an inquiry into the nature of the two major power’s engagement is essential for understanding international relations in the Post-Soviet Central Asia. The introduction highlights the institutional nature of regional cooperation in Central Asia, provides the historical background of the dynamics and motivating forces behind the major powers and their respective engagement in the region, and identifies the gap in the existing literature in order to justify the question: how does the nature of China’s and Russia’s engagement affect Central Asian regionalism?