Martha Plantz

History 141

The Second World Part II

Chapter 7- The Silk Road and the

Great Game Every Central Asian country, or

state ends with the suffix –Stan, which translates to land This came from the post Soviet

era

Many of these regions are rich in oil like Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan

With all this rich oil regions there is a lot of pressure to gain power and control where the oil is sold to This has been a main reason

for all the imperial competition in Central Asia

As Soviet Russia diminished China took that opportunity to replace all Russias economic, demographic, and diplomatic clout

Chapter 8- The Russia That Was Russia started to join

together with China They ran large joint

military exercises China became the largest

investor in Russian weapons

China was lobbying for a oil pipeline to come from Russia all the way to Chinese soil But the Russian feared the

encroachment of the Chinese and instead of creating the pipeline the Chinese wanted the Russian created a pipeline that never entered Chinese soil instead went north of their territories and ended at the Sea of Japan

It is thought that Russians low population which is spread thinly throughout their vast territory is in danger of having their states map changed for the worse Europe moving westward,

while China pushes back from the east

Chapter 11- Kyrgyzstan and

Tajikistan: Sovereign of Everything, Master of

Nothing

Kyrgyzstan is not typically high on a tourists list Despite having the

worlds freshest air, and possessing Lake Issykulwhich increases their health spa industry

Although Kyrgyzstan is a country that was once closed off to all foreigners by the Soviets Since the end of the

Soviets it has become a passage way for a east-west “Silk Road” That is managed by

Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China

Chapter 12- Uzbekistan and

Turkmenistan: Men Behaving Badly Relations between Americans

and citizens of Uzbekistan changed directly after the attacks of September 11, 2001 Americans in Uzbekistan were

taken through military checkpoints and labeled as “friends of Bush”

Uzbekistan was trying to prove themselves as a central power But failed once all Americans had

vacated the area, and their government was heading to a breakdown

Uzbekistan’s population was larger that the rest of Central Asia post-Soviet states combined In the early 1990s it was

thought to become more of the regions leader than Kazakhstan

It was the worlds eighth largest source of gold, also contained significant amounts of oil, gas and uranium

Even though Uzbekistan seemed to have everything they would need to be a regional power, something occurred to make them fail They choose to deepen their

ties with China, Arabia, and Hindustan

One famous symbol of Uzbekistan is the Aral Sea Kazakhstan’s government created

a damn in order to replenish the sea that was dried and polluted during the Soviets rein

Uzbekistan’s larger portion of the sea is continuing to shrink, and gaining poisonous swamps

This can symbolize how Kazakhstan is growing and gaining strength while Uzbekistan is loosing all of their potential to be a regional power

Sources

Khanna, Parag. The Second World.