The Central Asian countries opposition to a customs union with Russia reflects their growing trade with China.

As the civil war in Russia wound down, Moscow sent reinforcements to Central Asia.

Like Russia, China wants a reduction of the US military presence in Central Asia.

And, like the US, Russia attended last November s East Asia Summit (EAS).

A major drug route passes from Afghanistan through Central Asia and into Russia and Europe.

China is also a founder and member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), alongside Russia and the Central Asian republics.

Kremlin strategists explained that they feared the US would oust Russia from Central Asia.

In the long run, Russia and China are likely to be rivals for power and influence in Central Asia.

European illusions about Asia will no longer be directed at Russia, which, apart from its natural resources, will simply have nothing to offer.

Contagion soon spread across East Asia, with the ripple effects of serial currency devaluations reaching as far as Russia and Brazil.

But this option is not available to Asia s other leading economies Japan, India, and South Korea which are not contiguous with suppliers in Central Asia, Iran, or Russia.

In Russia, WeChat and Line are not the most popular instant messengers, but nevertheless they're used by our citizens to communicate with relatives, friends, and colleagues in Central Asia and South East Asia, where these messengers are popular.

By the beginning of 1920, Central Asia was firmly in the hands of Russia and, despite some early resistance to the Bolsheviks, Uzbekistan and the rest of the Central Asia became a part of the Soviet Union.

Kazakhstan already plays a key role in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), a group that comprises Central Asian countries, along with Russia and China.

As a result, Russia has lost its access to cheap Central Asian gas, as well as to the Chinese market.

While India makes positive strides in its defense relations with the United States, Russia is once again keen to expand its role and influence across South Asia.

The United Nations uses Myanmar , as do the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Russia, Germany, China, India, Norway, and Japan.

As European economies grew more dependent on Russian oil and gas, and the US military in Central Asia on Russian acquiescence, reversing the decision to admit Russia to the G8 became politically unthinkable.

Then there are all the other issues, from Chinese assertiveness in Asia to Russian revanchism in Ukraine. The rhetoric, especially on the Republican side, will be muscular.

Asserting itself as a major power outside the Western realm, Russia has boosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which includes China and most Central Asian countries.

While 25 of the natural gas in Ukraine comes from internal sources, about 35 comes from Russia and the remaining 40 from Central Asia through transit routes that Russia controls.

In fact, conflict between Russia and China is possible precisely in Central Asia, given the clear differences in the two countries economic and political interests in that region.

The lax regimes on Russia s borders with the former Soviet republics of Central Asia facilitate the smuggling of narcotics and other contraband.

Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan.

Towards East Asia? To the south and the Islamic world?

We are supposed to help stabilize the region around Afghanistan, for example, but only in order to create a greater Central Asia that will not include Russia.

Likewise, Russia s effort to expand its influence in the energy rich countries of Central Asia is aimed at consolidating Russia s stature as a major energy supplier.

So far the only non Central Asia exercise was Slavic Fellowship 2012 , the first military exercise held between Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine in a while.

Alternatively (or coincidentally), Russia might discover a new business center of gravity in Central Asia and East Asia, though this would hardly be the liberal empire that Anatoli Chubais once envisaged, for it would be based on the mutual attraction of autocrats.

ASEAN is likely to host a still wider grouping that includes Russia and the US, though the precise framework is still being debated.

Abe also stressed his intention to boost ties with Russia, promote cooperation with the ASEAN countries, and develop a strategic dialogue with Australia and India.

Neither of these is a serious option. As it is, Russia can turn only towards the West, and to Europe in particular.

Even Japan s strategically myopic current government seems to understand that Russia needs to play some role in achieving a new balance of power in Asia.

The river flows in northeast Asia, on the border between China and North Korea in its upper reaches, and between North Korea and Russia in its last before entering the Sea of Japan.

Under the cover of the war on terror, the US played into Russia s fear of encirclement through its military penetration into Central Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan.

) RUSSIA.

But this does not mean that a Taliban victory or an Afghan crisis that spirals out of control is no threat to the Kremlin s standing in Central Asia, a region it considers its strategic backyard.

Growth could easily slow following the next energy price slump or other external shock, such as proposals in Russia to limit employment and remittance opportunities for Central Asian workers there.

Haplogroup O is found at its highest frequency in East Asia and Southeast Asia, with lower frequencies in the South Pacific, Central Asia, and South Asia.

Notes

Ibid., No.

Aside from the explosive situation in the Middle East and the threat of Islamist terrorism, the West is now confronted with the rise of Asia, the return of a more assertive Russia, and new energy and environmental challenges.

Another ROI petition that might come before a government council later this year is an initiative that would require travel visas for visitors from countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus, as a means of curbing illegal immigration into Russia.

Asia is home to the largest Muslim population, with the Middle East (West Southwest Asia), Central Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia being particularly important regions.

Over the last years, UNIDIR has focused on Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, North East Asia, South Asia and Central Asia.