The New Silk Road Diplomacy

Download or read book The New Silk Road Diplomacy written by Hasan H. Karrar and published by UBC Press. This book was released on 2010-07-01 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, independent states such as Kazakhstan sprang up along China's western frontier. Suddenly, Beijing was forced to confront internal challenges to its authority at its border as well as international competition for energy and authority in Central Asia. Hasan Karrar traces how China cooperated with Russia and the Central Asian republics to stabilize the region, facilitate commerce, and build an energy infrastructure to import the region's oil. While China's gradualist approach to Central Asia prioritized multilateral diplomacy, it also brought Beijing into direct competition with the United States, which views Central Asia as vital to its strategic interests.