Central Asia and the Struggle for Soviet Legacy

Abstract

The paper discusses the “struggle for Soviet legacy’ as a key concept for understanding relations in Central Asia. This struggle is a path of dependent development, in which the resources and values created in Soviet times determine interstate relations in the 21st century. The authors argue that in Central Asia this legacy rests mostly on the mega industries created during the Soviet era, and national resources and practices of their distribution. The paper concludes that in fact the struggle for Soviet legacy means confrontation over the contours of new geoeconomics in Asia.