Great Games, Local Rules

Featuring: Andrew C. Kuchins

CSIS Russia and Eurasia Program is pleased to invite you to a discussion with Alexander Cooley on the occasion of his new book "Great Games, Local Rules: The New Great Power Contest in Central Asia." Alexander Cooley, one of America's most respected Central Asia experts, explores the dynamics of the new competition over Central Asia since 9/11. The three great powers, the U.S., Russia, and China, are pursuing important goals: basing rights and security cooperation for the US, access to energy for the Chinese, and increased political influence for the Russians. But Central Asian governments have proven themselves powerful forces in their own right, establishing local rules that serve to fend off foreign demands and pare down external conditions, enrich themselves and reinforce their sovereign authority. 

Alexander Cooley is the Tow Professor for Distinguished Scholars and Practitioners in Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University in New York. Professor Cooley's research examines how external actors have shaped the sovereignty and political development of the post-Communist states, with a focus on post-Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus, and he is the author of four academic books. Cooley's policy-related articles and opinion pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Policy and he is regularly quoted in international media outlets on Central Asia-related topics.

Books will be available for purchase.