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The Jamestown Foundation (24 May 2023)

Stephen Blank

At the recent China–Central Asia summit on May 18 and 19, Beijing presented a comprehensive plan for expanding cooperation with the Central Asian states that would usurp Russia’s position in the region (Newscentralasia.net, May 20). The convening of this summit underlined the fact that, at least in Central Asia, the repercussions of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine are now making themselves felt. It has been clear for some time that Russian power, influence and leverage in the region has been on the decline. While this hardly means that Russia has lost all means of influencing local governments, the erosion in its ability to do so has long been visible. Since nature and world politics abhor a vacuum, China has quickly stepped in to supplant Russia as the regional Ordnungsmacht (“power that enforces order”) and “security manager” of Central Asia. And this Chinese projection of power was on full display at the recent summit in Xian.

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