Foreign Correspondence

[otraque]

<<To avoid Washington and Moscow, the region could turn to China. The Chinese, however, would use any influence to flood Central Asia's markets with cheap goods, thereby putting local producers out of business, while taking all the natural resources they could from the region.

In other words, no matter where Central Asian leaders turn for aid, they end up paying a significant price. Now that they are independent and truly feeling uncomfortable politically for the first time, they are learning a fundamental geopolitical fact of Central Asian life: The great powers are not interested in friendship with Central Asia but in besting one another for
influence in the region. >> this to me is the basic summation of the reality of Central Asia.
it is only a battleground for the bully boys.
China, Russia and the U.S. don't give a damn about Central Asia except what is in it for them.
this links to where article is found but the article originates from stratfor.com
http://politicom.moldova.org/comentarii/eng/78/