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ThenewGreatGamethatisnot,FilippoCostaBuranelli
Opinion&Analysis
13
ofsecurityandtheeconomy,privilegingregimestabilityandterritorialintegrity
overhumanwelfareandthedevelopmentofcivilsociety.
China,forthatmatter,isadoptingamixofmultilateralismandbilateralismas
well,butrelyingfarmoreonthelatter.Whilemultilateralismisperformedthrough
theSCO,bilateralismismuchstrongerespeciallyfromaneconomicperspective,
withChinasigningdealsandagreementswithCentralAsianrepublicstosecure
undisturbedenergyflowsforitself(mainlyoilandgasfromKazakhstan,Turkmen-
istanandUzbekistan)andtoensurecommercialpenetrationforitsmuch-voiced
infrastructuralproject,theBeltandRoadInitiative.However,thisisnottheend
ofthestory.Inhishighlyinfluentialandwell-researchedbookGreatGames,Lo-
calRules,AlexanderCooleyhasshownhowthegreatpowersarenottheonly
rule-settingplayersinthisallegednewGreatGame.Localandregionalelite,such
asthoseoftheCentralAsianstates,areabletoshapethecontoursofthegameas
well,bydictatingrulesthatgrowoutoftheirdomesticpoliciesandthenatureof
CentralAsiansociety,suchassecurityentrenchmentoflocalregimes,econom-
icbenefitsforinternalcadresandrepressionofdomesticdissent.Inotherwords,
theyareabletodiversifythesetofrulesofthegame,andinfacttoentrenchthem
fortheirownbenefit.
Agamewithmoreplayers
TeGreatGamenarrativeseesCentralAsiaasaplayingfieldfortheUS,Rus-
siaandChina.Yetotherstateshavealsobeenactiveintheregion,mostlyinthe
economicrealmandhaveforgedsolidtieswiththeCentralAsianstates,thus
diversifyingtheirforeignpolicyoptionsandalleviatingexcessiverelianceonthe
threegreatpowers.Turkey,Iran,IndiaandPakistanarenowwillingtoplaytheir
ownroleintheregion.WhilethesecountrieslackRussia’spoliticalandmilitary
linkswiththeregionandChina’seconomicmight,theynonethelessrelyonamix
ofethno-linguistic(inthecaseofTurkey),economic(inthecaseofPakistan,India
andTurkey),historical(Turkey,India,Iran)andreligiousafnities(Turkey,Iran)
toachievetheirownstrategicgoalsintheregion,inclosepartnershipwiththe
CentralAsiangovernments.
Teincreasedco-operationwiththeseactorshasbeenmadepossiblethanks
totwoevents:theascensiontopowerofShavkatMirziyoyevinUzbekistan,who
seemkeenerthanhispredecessorIslamKarimovtoopenupthecountry’secon-
omytoforeigninvestments;andtheinclusionofIndiaandPakistanintheSCO
aspermanentmemberslastJune.Turkeyisparticularlyinterestedinreviving
ethno-culturallinkswiththeregionbyinvestingintourismandeducation.Iran,
