Author: Balbina Y. Hwang
Region: Asia
Theme: Economics, Foreign Relations
Location: Korea, South, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia
Published December 13, 2012
Download PDFTwo thousand years ago, the “Silk Road” linked the Chinese and Roman empires, moving goods, people, and ideas between Asia and Europe. For centuries thereafter Central Asia remained the focus of great powers’ strategic interests, for control of the region meant crucial access into and out of surrounding empires and civilizations, including those of Russia, China, India, Persia and the Ottomans. Largely neglected during the Cold War, the region has reemerged in the 21st century as an area of intense interest primarily for the vast natural and mineral resources that lie beneath the challenging terrain; yet the region’s value as a crucial axis geographically connecting East and West is once again drawing acute attraction.