Excellent article in the UK Defence Forum on the geopolitics of the current chaos in Kyrgyzstan. Won't attempt to summarize, as it deserves reading in full.
I am particularly struck by the significance of Uzbekistan, much the most powerful of the ex-Soviet Stans, which is not going to sit idly by while fellow Uzbeks are driven out of Kyrgyzstan. It's a can of exceptionally vigorous worms.
This is, of course, the heart of the territory where the 'Great Game' was played out between the British and the Russian Empires in Queen Victoria's reign.
I give a talk on 'The New Great Game', but my focus has been on the ethnic cauldron of the Caucasus. Seems I'll have to crack the books and get deep into Kipling territory.
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Stratfor opines that the Karimov mafia in Tashkent will not just sit on their hands waiting for the Russians to get around to them.
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