Situating India in the evolving Central
Eurasian Matrix is an exploration in the ever changing
post-Soviet geo-political scene filled with competing powers
with conflicting interests. The theater of Central Eurasia,
often associated with the concepts like Great Game and
New Great Game, has acquired increasing significance in
the post-Cold War scenario. The Great Game, which was coined
in the age of imperialism and colonialism had brought the
Anglo-Russian rivalry in the region to its peak. After
the end of the World War-II, the region gained importance
not only due to its strategic position, but also due to
its rich energy resources. In the post-Cold War post-Soviet
space, the emergence of the region as a hotbed of competing
politics has led to the rise of various alignments. Whether
it is religious fundamentalism or nation-building travails,
their overarching impact on India cannot be overlooked.
In this background, India needs to develop a multitask
policy to develop partnership with the region. India's
energy needs can also be largely met by exploring partnership
with the countries in the region.
So far there is no commonly agreed definition
of Central Eurasia. Scholars debate on the formulation
of a proper definition of this concept. Some of them argue
that the post-Soviet space can be called Central Eurasia,
while some others argue that the former Soviet Central
Asia can be called Central Eurasia. Nevertheless, almost
all the scholars agree that Central Eurasia is a broader
and all-encompassing subject. John Schoeberlein attempts
at a broader definition of the concept under which he includes "lands
from the Iranian Plateau, the Black Sea, and the Volga
Basin through Afghanistan, Southern Siberia, and the Himalayas
to Muslim and Manchu regions of China and the Mongol lands".
Robert M Cutler employs seven scales of analysis in his
theory on Central Eurasia.The first scale of analysis is
the national scale i.e., state level analysis where each
of the Central Asian countries may be taken separately
for study. Second, there is the regional scale of Central
Asia itself, which takes the five former Soviet republics
as a whole. Third, the `macro-region' of Greater Central
Asia includes `political' Central Asia (i.e., the five
states) plus their cultural and economic connections with
such neighboring regions as Western China, Southern Russia,
Northern Afghanistan and Northeastern Iran. Fourth, is
the `meta-regional' scale, a still broader construct, which
include Turkic, Mongolian, Iranian, Caucasian, Tibetan
and other peoples and it extends from the Black sea region,
the Crimea and the Caucasus in the west, through the Middle
Volga region, Central Asia and Afghanistan and on to Siberia,
Mongolia and Tibet in the east. The fifth, `mega-regional'
scale of analysis includes not only Russia and China but
also the whole of South and Southwest Asia, from India
and Pakistan through Iraq and Turkey. A sixth scale of
analysis is Greater Eurasia, from Spain to Sakhalin and
Spitzbergen to Singapore including the European Union (EU)
and its family of institutions. Finally, the seventh scale
of analysis is the global scale, which includes the US,
American transnational corporations with a global reach,
and worldwide international organizations especially having
economic, industrial or financial vocation.
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