U.S. INTERESTS IN CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CHALLENGES TO THEM

For the United States, Central Asia is a region of
both growing importance and of growing challenge. Its
proximity to Russia, China, Iran, India, and Pakistan;,
location as the center of the Global War on Terrorism;
and its large energy holdings make it a strategic region
where the United States has important, some might
even say vital, interests. Those interests pertain, first of
all, to geostrategic realities of security, particularly in
the war on terrorism. But they also pertain to energy and
to the effort to support liberalizing and democratizing
reforms.
However, today those interests are challenged by
Russo-Chinese and Iranian opposition to U.S. presence
there, those governments’ and local regimes’ resistance
to reform, and the revival of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
Therefore we need to assess how those challenges are
manifesting themselves and how America best might
adapt to meet them and pursue its interests with greater
success.
Accordingly, the Strategic Studies Institute is
pleased to present this monograph by Professor
Stephen Blank who takes a fresh look at the current
situation in Central Asia and makes substantive policy
recommendations to the U.S. Army, the Defense
Department, and the U.S. Government concerning the
best way to