Dissertation for M.Sc degree
Political Geography
Abstract: The collapse of the Soviet Union led to the formation of five newly established republics in the Central Asian region; A region that has witnessed the presence of many countries due to its special geopolitical conditions. On the one hand, the special geographical conditions of the region and on the other hand, the importance of geo-economics, Central Asia has not only caused Russia to pay attention to this region arising from the disintegrated power of the East, but it has also made regional countries such as China and Türkiye and extra-regional countries such as the United States of America pay attention to this region. Each of these countries is seeking to achieve their goals in this region and this has been effective on the political and economic independence of Central Asian countries. It is noteworthy that the countries of the Central Asian region have high entropy in terms of geography, and it makes the countries of this region dependent on their neighboring countries as a geographical complement. This has turned the attention of the countries of the region to their neighboring countries, especially to the Islamic Republic of Iran. The presence and role of regional and extra-regional countries in Central Asia has provided special conditions for this region, the study of its geopolitical causes can be of great importance in the studies of this region, as a strategic region next to our country. The method of this thesis is descriptive-analytical, using the collection and analysis of the obtained information, to investigate the geopolitics of the Central Asia region. Based on this, the questions of this thesis are: 1. What could be the effective geopolitical factors of Central Asia on the presence of the United States of America and Russia? 2. What are the effects of the presence of Russia and the United States of America in Central Asia on the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran? For each of these questions, a hypothesis has been proposed, which are two of these: First hypothesis: economic characteristics and regional location are among the factors influencing the interests and presence of the United States and Russia in Central Asia. The second hypothesis: the presence of Russia and the United States of America in Central Asia causes results such as the reduction of transit, strategic depth and border challenges against Iran. Keywords: geopolitics, Central Asia, energy resources, United States of America, Russia, Islamic Republic of Iran. Chapter 1: Research overview 1-1 Introduction With the collapse of the Soviet Union in the last decade of the 20th century, the world witnessed dramatic changes in the map. It was geo-political; These fundamental changes, due to their special conditions, drew the attention of many countries and created new geopolitical competitions in the field of newly independent countries. The reason for that was that with the collapse of the Soviet Union, several countries appeared on the world map that could be both challenging and beneficial to their neighbors due to their unique advantages. What is particularly noteworthy about the countries that gained independence from the Soviet Union in relation to the Islamic Republic of Iran are the newly established republics beyond the north-eastern and north-western borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the two regions of the Caucasus[1] and the Central Asia region[2]. What is emphasized from these two regions in this thesis is the "Central Asia region" as a vast land in the west of the Asian continent. Central Asia usually includes the countries of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan. Of course, to make this region more specific, Afghanistan, northeastern Iran (Khorasan), as well as the part of Xinjiang (Old Eastern Turkestan) in western China and southern Siberia in Russia should also be added to the territorial component of Central Asia.In any case, this region has a special geo-economic importance compared to the Caucasus region due to its large land area, significant population and geo-economic importance. Therefore, the spatial subjectivity of this research is formed. What is highly regarded in the geo-political studies of this field and the geopolitical subjectivity of the present study is that, despite the independence of the Central Asian countries, these countries witness the presence, role and influence of regional and extra-regional countries such as the United States of America, Russia, Turkey, China, etc. Under the title of "New Big Game", in their region, each of them has started extensive activities in order to achieve their geopolitical, geoeconomic, and geostrategic goals in the Central Asia region. From a geopolitical point of view, it is noteworthy that Central Asia as the southern part of Mackinder's Heartland theory has been associated with geopolitical and geoeconomic conditions and characteristics. In this sense, with the formation of the Central Asian countries in the last decade of the 20th century in general and the early years of the 21st century in particular, this region has found a valuable position from the point of view of regional countries such as China, Russia and extra-regional countries such as the United States, and each of them is trying to play a greater role and by establishing more control over the region, providing a higher position for themselves and as a result, they can achieve their goals in this region. Now these conditions are called the new big game [3] in this region, which can be seen as the beginning of the independence of the Central Asian countries and since the 1990s, which has continued until the time of this research. Of course, considering the fields of goals and conditions of presence of each in this region, it seems that this competition between these countries will continue; This is because the Islamic Republic of Iran, due to its valuable geopolitical features, especially regarding its geopolitical position in relation to the countries of Central Asia, a long period of shared history and shared cultural and religious features with these countries, from the very beginning of their independence, while recognizing them, has tried to establish communication and good relations in various aspects, as well as improving their geographical inadequacy (due to being landlocked and lacking access to the open seas), so that in this way, it can To have a good image among the countries of Central Asia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the geopolitical and geoeconomic attractions of the region attracted the powers and actors of other regions to this region. Actors in the region that were on the periphery and adjacent to Central Asia, such as Iran, Russia, and China, in addition to their goal of development and influence in the region, also had some security concerns, and part of the role-playing of these countries was aimed at acquiring the ability to deter threats in Central Asia, while Turkey's presence in the region was only for the purpose of acquiring resources and development (Dadandish, 2016: 82). Therefore, from a geopolitical point of view, the term "new big game" can be used for the clashes of regional and extra-regional powers in the Central Asian region. This event, unlike the flow of the great game that took place between Russia and England in the 19th century, should be understood between regional and extra-regional actors (specifically the United States of America and Russia), each of which seeks to achieve its goals and interests in this region. The main reasons for the attention and presence of the United States of America in this region can be found in various reasons, among which we can mention the following areas: preventing the revival of Russia's historical influence on the Central Asian region, preventing the warm relations of the countries of this region with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which have deep cultural and historical ties with Iran, the strategic role of this region in order to be a potential region for military support of the United States' presence in the Afghanistan war, as well as control over the abundant energy resources that exist in this region.