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ThenewGreatGame
thatisnot
FILIPPOCOSTABURANELLI
TeideathatCentralAsiaisthenexusofaGreatGame
betweentheworld’ssuperpowersis,inthe21stcentury,
largelyexaggerated.Undoubtedly,theCentralAsian
republicsareactivelyengagingwiththegreatpowers
byrelyingontheirsovereignprerogativesandpursuing
theirownstrategicgoals.Butthisshouldbeseenrather
asastrategyofthelocalplayersthanacompetitivegame
orchestratedfromWashington,MoscoworBeijing.
ItisnotuncommontohearfromacademicsandpunditsalikethatCentralAsia
isnowatthecentreofanewGreatGamebetweenthegreatpowers(namely,the
UnitedStates,RussiaandChina),asitwastwocenturiesago.Teterm,popularised
byRudyardKipling’s1901novelKimandfirstusedbyCaptainArthurConollyof
theEastIndiaCompany’sBengalArmyin1840,directlyreferstothe19th-century
competitionbetweentheRussianandBritishempiresforcontroloverCentralAsia.
Anexampleofthepre-eminenceofthemetaphorintoday’sintellectualcirclesis
oneofthelatestbookspublishedoninternationalpoliticsinEurasia,editedby
MehranKamrava,titledTeGreatGameinWestAsia,whichclaimsthatthere
indeedisanewgreatgameafootintheregion.
Toughvigorouslydeniedbythosepolicy-makersactuallyinvolvedinthe
politicsoftheregion,andoftencriticisedbymorenuancedandcontext-awarere-
gionalobservers,theGreatGameisstillawidelyadoptedandpopularmetaphor,
rootedingeopoliticalthinkingandaimedatsimplifyingthereality.Itrefersto
