Eurasianism and the Concept of Central Caucaso-Asia

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72 Eldar Ismailov and Vladimer Papava that Kazakhstan belongs to Central Asia. If detached from Central Asia as a Eurasian state, Kazakhstan will lose its independence and will be swallowed by Russia. 288 It is interesting to note that although Tolipov regards the very idea of Eurasianism, including Kazakhstan’s Eurasianism, a myth and a geopolitical provocation 289 and criticizes the arguments in favor of separating Kazakhstan from Central Asia and recognizing it as a Eurasian state, he does not entirely exclude the possibility that Central Asia (including Kazakhstan) will return to Eurasia (where it was when it belonged to the Soviet Union) after realizing its geopolitical self-identification. 290 Here the question is whether the Central Asian countries would want, even in the future, to give up their actual independence in favor of Russia; and whether integration into Eurasia is possible if it, using the above terminology, is actually based on a “myth” or even more on “geopolitical provocation.” While sharing this critical attitude toward the ideas of Eurasianism, so far most of the Central Asian countries have not grasped the meaning of their independence or pondered on their future. These are problems that have not yet been resolved. Central Caucaso-Asia – A New Geopolitical Conception After examining the correlation between the geographic and geopolitical interpretations of Eurasia, we conclude that the borders of this continent have been contracted by Russian Eurasianists in their geopolitical attempt to justify Russia’s imperial intentions in Eurasia. As for Central Eurasia, it was mentioned earlier that geographic Central Eurasia, as the central region of the Eurasian continent, essentially encompasses geographic Central Asia entirely, while Central Europe (as it is defined above) is not included in it. It was also emphasized above that based on the reasoning that geographic Eurasia, as a continent, consists of two parts of the world – Europe and Asia – geographic Central Eurasia, along with Central Asia, should naturally also include Central Europe, as well as the 288 Ibid., p. 18. 289 Ibid. 290 Ibid.
Rethinking Central Eurasia 73 Central Caucasus that joins them. Consequently, any interpretation of Central Eurasia that differs from this logical substantiation of the region, whether we like it or not, is a tribute to the tradition formed by Russian Eurasianism. At the same time, academic circles, as well as other forces, are presently showing a great interest in studying the problems of the three Central Caucasian countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia) and the five Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) within the same context. 291 The vast region represented by these eight states is now called Central Eurasia. 292 The same term is also applied to the above eight countries and Afghanistan. 293 As mentioned above, together with the five Central Asian states, Afghanistan belongs to Greater Central Asia. There is an even wider interpretation of Central Eurasia, which includes the Black Sea, Caucasian, Caspian, and Central Asian regions. 294 This approach to the term “Central Eurasia” results in overlapping the regions mentioned above. 291 For example, Bertsch et al., eds., Crossroads and Conflict; Olga Oliker and Thomas S. Szayna, eds., Faultlines of Conflict in Central Asia and the South Caucasus: Implications for the U.S. Army (Santa Monica: RAND, 2003); Farian Sabahi and Daniel Warner, eds., The OSCE and the Multiple Challenges of Transition. The Caucasus and Central Asia (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004). 292 For example, Amineh and Houweling, “Introduction: The Crisis in IR-Theory,” pp. 2-3; Fairbanks et al., Strategic Assessment of Central Eurasia, p. vii; Meyer, The Dust of Empire, p. 206; Guo Xuetang, “The Energy Security in Central Eurasia: the Geopolitical Implications to China’s Energy Strategy,” China and Eurasia Forum Quarterly, Vol. 4, No. 4, 2006, p. 117, . Identifying this region with Russia (Vakhtang Maisaia, The Caucasus-Caspian Regional and Energy Security Agendas—Past, Contemporary and Future Geopolitics: View from Georgia (Brussels-Tbilisi, Tbiliselebi, 2007), p. 16) can clearly been excluded from the generally accepted interpretations of Central Eurasia. Such an interpretation of this region should of course be recognized as erroneous, for if Russia is the same thing as Central Eurasia, the whereabouts of Northern Eurasia remains unclear. 293 Eldar Ismailov, Murad Esenov, “Central Eurasia in the New Geopolitical and Geo- Economic Dimensions,” in Central Eurasia 2005 (Analytical Annual) (Luleå: CA&CC Press, 2005). 294 For example, Parvin Darabadi, “Central Eurasia: Globalization and Geopolitical Evolution,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 3 (39) (2006), p. 9.
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