US Military Bases in Central Asia
Saturday - Feb 14, 2009 - 6:43 PM
When we talk about Central Asia we normally have in mind the following 5 countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. They all have formally been part of the Soviet Union. Ever since the beginning of the war in Afghanistan, the United States has a bigger interest in extending its sphere of influence into that region. Security is one reason behind it, but the vast natural resources that some of those countries sit on is another.
Kazakhstan is the biggest country in that region and also the 7th largest country in the world. The US has had mixed success in establishing a stronger relationship with its authorities. Primarily because the regime there has remained in the hands of one person and family every since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Additionally it is the strongest ally of Russia in that region. Russia still uses its vast, unoccupied areas in the middle of the country as its space program launching site.
The second country that the US did not have much success with is Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan has been a closed and isolated country for many years, primarily due to it's former leader, Saparmurat Niyazov. It is enough to say that he declared himself president for life, put golden statues of himself in all major cities and his picture was on all local currency bills, to understand all the reasons behind such an isolation. Things are slowly starting to change and improve since his death in 2006
But in the other republics, the US had some success establishing its presence, including military bases, much to the disapproval of Russia,. The bases are setup there to enable better exchange of military equipment and supplies for the forces fighting in Afghanistan. The US had military bases in Uzbekistan and in Kyrgyzstan and is currently negotiating on the same issue with Tajikistan. As the war in Afghanistan does not seem to go away anytime soon, its only a matter of time before we will be seeing some more US military build-up in that part of the world. The entire region sits between Russia and China. It is definitely a strategic location.
