JOURNAL OF CENTRAL EURASIA STUDIES
Year:2019 | Volume:11 | Issue:2 |Papers Count:15

Moscow's long-standing absence from international arena has led the United States to dominate many parts of Eastern Europe with the NATO tool and close itself to the Russian borders. With the further expansion of NATO and the European Union towards the borders of the Russian Federation, the conflict between Russia and the Western powers including US government has intensified. Meanwhile, the rise of Putin and his efforts to revive the country's position in international arena have increased the conflict between the West and Russia. Putin seeks to recover its lost position in the international system. From Kremlin‟ s point of view, the emergence of Russia in the international system, formation of one of the poles of the international system around Russia and creating a strategic balance against the West require Russian influence in the near abroad and the creation of regional structures and arrangements under Russian leadership. ...

Economists consider capital as the engine of economic growth and development. In their view, attracting capital to support productive and infrastructural projects is one of the key factors in economic growth, especially in developing countries. Meanwhile, the role of foreign capital is highlighted for financing large-scale macroeconomic projects. According to the view of the economics experts, the increase in attraction of foreign direct investment in the host country is a function of two variables: The fundamental reforms in the upstream laws related to foreign investment, and the improvement of general economic indicators affecting the market and, consequently, affecting the capital market. Growth in GDP, lack of high volatility in inflation, low unemployment rate and business index are effective indicators for attracting foreign direct investment.

Undoubtedly the Syrian crisis is one of the most important current issues in the international system. This has paved the way for the presence of regional and trans-regional powers in the territory of this country. One of these powers, Russia, has intervened in this crisis in the interest of the Syrian government. Russia‟ s support in terms of political, economic and militaryintelligence was carried out. Of course, the most important aspect of Russia's intervention in the Syrian crisis is direct military involvement in the crisis in the late summer of 2015. Under the influence of Russia's help and assistance, the positions of the Syrian army and its regional allies were strengthened and they were able to regain the control of a significant portion of the areas occupied by oppositions and extremists. In any case, Russia's actions in the Syrian crisis are of a special and unique nature. The question arisen here is “ why Russia has intervened in the Syrian crisis, while it has not intervened in any of the Middle East crises so far? ” The hypothesis is that “ Geopolitical obligations have led Russia to intervene in the interests of the government in the Syrian crisis. ” The research was conducted in an exploratory and empirical way, and is thus loyal to the positivist tradition. ...

Generally in the literature of political science and international relations, autonomy has been viewed as an effective way to manage conflicts and tensions between ethnic minorities and the central government, and to regulate relations between them. Ethnic and territorial autonomy is not a new way of managing the relations of the center and ethnic minorities; but in recent years, with the importance of issues such as regional and international peace and stability, most of the countries that are faced with ethnic diversity within their borders are increasingly focusing on this way for managing the demands of their ethnic groups. ...

Increasing the geopolitical power and dignity of countries have brought authority, impact and will provide more benefits and extend their authority in the economic, cultural, social, and political dimensions on regional, continental and global scales. Majority of countries are looking for extended plans to increase their power, and so the measurement of national power requires calculating and evaluating components and variables in different aspects. Evaluating these factors reveal the level of national power and the determination of the condition of countries in different facets of local, regional and trans-regional levels. One of the key factors in determining the national power level of countries is to calculate their geopolitical weight. If the countries in a geographical region define their activities in the form of a regional organization, their relations and their type of actions in the regional structure will be based on their geopolitical weight. Therefore, according to the influence of power on the process of interactions, investigation of power levels and its extended changes in different geographic regions, based on the indicators and components of national power, can determine the regional power structure and the role of each Members. ...

Positive thinking is the result of a mental conception of the capabilities one country can play for another. So that any action taken by country A can have beneficial results for B. Finding positive aspects in comparison with the negative effects is some of dimensions of positive thinking. In fact, changing the attitude from negativity toward positivity is a long-term process which is, of course is due to a reciprocal and interactive relationship. Therefore, positive thinking, while somewhat rooted in objective facts, comes from the thinking of the person at first and the elite ruling of foreign policy as a device of that country in the second phase. ...

Although two thirds of the Earth's surface is covered by water but the water crisis has been a vital issue for the inhabitants of the earth because only 0. 26 percent of the water available on the ground is sweet and usable and also available water resources are not evenly distributed. For example, a community has more control over water resources than others. Therefore, shortage of water resources and also uneven distribution at the global level, caused increases the importance of water and if these sources be as international rivers, it can create conflicts on utilization. ...

The article aims to study the place of Afghanistan among regional security complexes including South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East. During the Cold War period, Afghanistan was located at the center of US-USSR competitions. Lastly, the dyadic tension led to invasion of the country by the USSR Red Army and its occupation. Thanks to presence of former Soviet Union in Afghanistan, an „ overlay‟ came into existence influencing the security processes of the state. So, the end of the war in the Afghanistan was a pivotal accident in the late of bipolar era. ...

Iran and Caucasus have a common history. Cultural, ethnic, religious, linguistic and geographical cohesion of Caucasus with Iran are obvious factors that engage Tehran in the issues of this region. This area has been part of the Iranian territory in different eras and at periods of times the Russians and Turks have ruled this region. Iran's foreign policy attitude in the region confirms that Geopolitical motives and pragmatist policies have been the basis of Tehran's orientation in the region. The main purpose of this article is assessing the foreign policy of Iran in the framework of Robert Jervis's theory on Perception and misperception. Therefore present article tries to address the questions, whether Iran's Foreign policy is offensive or defensive in Caucasia? How the Caucasian states‟ perception from the Iran's foreign policy has been formulated? The authors believe that Iran's behavior in South Caucasus is completely defensive. But the dominant conception on Iran's foreign policy is offensive towards the region by the interested players. ...

This research surveys the role and status of Sufism as one of the most important movements and elements of Islam in Central Asia. In this context, the main focus is on identifying the role of Sufis and Sufi orders, since the emergence of Islam in Central Asia. Thus emphasis will be on the role and status of Sufism during the reign of the Mongols and the Tsarist Russian and especially the effect of policies communist leaders in the Soviet Union and then the independent republics toward Sufism. In this regard, reference is made to the reasons for the repression of Sufis in Soviet era and re-attention the leaders of the newly independent republics give to the Sufism. In this research, we have tried to study the subject using a descriptive-analytical method and using available scientific books and essays in this field. ...

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, Central Asia, as a newly emerging region, became the scene of rivalry between regional and trans-regional actors, each of which was aiming to leave its own distinct and effective trail on the region. Under these circumstances, China, which has long been engaged in traditional links and close ties with the countries of the region, pursued a progressive regional foreign policy, and sought to provide appropriate multidimensional fields for promoting its national interests and national economic goals in Central Asian. In other words, China's growing economy and its innovative orientation towards becoming a regional and global power have forced this government to develop relations with the countries of the region. The scope of this kind of influence has gone so far that, according to some analysts, the security and prosperity of China in relation to the region has gained a specific identity. The above-mentioned conditions, which were mutually beneficial, faced transformations in the region following the 9/11 attacks and their subsequent developments. After Hu Jintao came to power in 2002, China's foreign policy focused on reducing tension with its neighbors and regional countries. His foreign policy in Central Asia was based on regional stability. Thus, while security and development were his most important issues in confronting Central Asia, he considered the power of economic development as the only solution to the reduction or even elimination of ethnic and political tensions. The foreign policy of Xi Jinping took a more active approach. In contrast to Hu, Xi has been less optimistic about the nature of world politics and his strategy to achieve foreign policy objectives has been more decisive and aggressive. The goals of China's foreign policy in this period in relation to Central Asia are summarized as follow: Maintaining political stability in the secular states of Central Asia; increasing China's influence and limiting the influence of other powers; promoting China's economic interests through the Belt and Road Initiative. Meanwhile, the phenomenon of terrorism and the spread of terrorist activities have changed some aspects of China‟ s security policy toward the Central Asian region. The formation of new security ties with some countries, and designing and implementing new anti-terror laws and regulations are some examples. Based on the comparative-analytical research method, the present paper describes how the anti-terrorism approach influenced China‟ s foreign policy toward Central Asia under Hu and Xi. The main question is: “ How is China's regional foreign policy toward Central Asia was influential in terms of countering terrorism after September 11? ” And the hypothesis is: China's foreign policy toward the Central Asian region has become more security-orientated under Xi Jingping compared to Hu Jintao, especially on the basis of the fight against terrorism.

One of the disastrous consequences of the seventy-year-old governance of the Soviet Union's communist regime in the historical region of Central Asian consisting of five republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan was a compulsory change in the writing systems of these countries to Cyrillic (Russian). This situation was of particular complexity in Tajikistan due to the linguistic differences with four other countries. In any case, after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, with the independence of the Republic of Tajikistan, the alphabet of the ancestors (Farsi) was expected to replace the Cyrillic alphabet (Russian), as in the early years of the domination of the communist regime, the alphabet of Tajikistan changed from the alphabet Of ancestors (Persian) to Cyrillic (Russian), but it did not happen. ...

Tsarist Russia's dominance over the Caucasus in the 19th century was a turning point in the history of this region. It was a consequential change that determined the future destiny of the Caucasian people within the colonial strategy of the Russian empire. The birth of “ Caucasus” as a modern phenomenon with its multidimensional and geopolitical connotations was the result of this process. This process most often viewed and surveyed from European or Russian perspective and the resulted studies naturally reflect a Russo-Orientalist/Euro-Centrist narrative. The present paper aims to propose a rather different perspective; keeping in mind the pre-colonial history of the so-called Caucasus region, it will trace the process during which Tsarist Russia's colonial strategy toward the Caucasus was developed and try to explain how this strategy led to creation of “ Caucasus” as a colonialgeopolitical conceptual structure.

Putin had a more modest foreign policy rhetoric and seemed to be far more pragmatic than Primakov during his first term of presidency. However, such conditions did not last long and Russian government chose a more assertive stance once political stability was ensured and economic growth showed signs of improvement. In the following article we have assumed that similar patterns of thinking and acting which have not been necessarily subject to considerable changes as a result of vibrant conditions can be found in Russian foreign policy. It seems as if guiding principles of foreign policy are deeply embedded in political culture of the country. Despite some tactical changes to compensate for country‟ s backwardness and economic difficulties as a historical tradition, Russians have never retreated from claiming the status of a globally recognized great power and international rule maker. ...