Mingazutdinova G. The US Policy In Central Asia in 1993 - 2015.

The thesis delivers the complex investigation of the US' post-Soviet Central Asian policy's evolution in 1993 - 2015 through the analysis of the historiography, state documents, articles, memoirs and analytical papers. The historic and geographical contexts of Central Asia have been studied and traced from the early years to the ?poque of the "Great Game", when the idea of the importance of Central Asia in the global politics had been shaped. The process of implementation of the definition of "Central Asia" both in Western and post-Soviet science has been investigated. In both cases, the definition replaced the traditional expressions, shaped in the XIXth century - "Turkestan" and "Middle Asia" respectively. The thesis draws attention to the background of the Washington's policy towards the region by examining the classic geopolitical concepts of the XXth century shaped by sir Halford Mackinder, James Fairgrieve, Nicholas Spykman and Zbigniew Brzezinski and through analyzing the impact thereof on the contemporary US' Central Asian strategy, inter alia on that of Bill Clinton's, George W.Bush's and Barack Obama's administrations. The nuclear and conventional weapons issue has been examined as an element of the US' national interests. The importance of the US - Central Asian collaboration on the elimination of the Soviet nuclear heritage has been underlined. The challenges of the US' national interests within the framework of combating weapons smuggling have been outlined, and the main threats to the Washington's policy in the region have been estimated. The thesis as well explores the role of Central Asian states in fulfilling the US' security and military projects in the early XXIst century, i.e. within the framework of military operations in Afghanistan in 2001 - 2014. The convergent and divergent interests of Washington, Beijing and Moscow have been illustrated. The thesis explores the outcomes of Beijing's and Moscow's interests in Central Asia, from 60 B.C. and XIXth century respectively, as well as their impact on the political coexistence with the US in the region. Basic instruments and principles of China's and Russia's influence in Central Asia have been analysed. The influence of the annexation of Crimean peninsula in 2014 upon the balance of powers in the Central Asian region has been examined. The official position of the Central Asian governments upon the events in Ukraine within the scope of the US' competition with China and Russia have been esteemed. The role of Central Asia's energy and natural resource potential in the US' policy towards the region has been determined.