A short history of the area in question

This amazing subject cannot really be understood without taking the time to put it all into context. One must start somewhere and from a US perspective it makes sense to begin in the era of the 1980's. However there are extensive papers and imperative historically significant issues that have come before this era. I can only hope that readers are familiar with the subject or perhaps in the future I will have the time to discuss them at length.

Specifically we will start in 1979. It was in 1979 that the USSR had invaded the country of Afghanistan.

So it was in the 1980's that Jimmy Carter in the White House as president of the USA was forced to deal with central Asia in a major way. He was an old naval officer who trained under Hyman Rickover who planned to become an integral part of the beginnings of the US nuclear submarine deterrent.

It was during his tenure as president that domestic issues in Iran reached the boiling point. In Iran eventually the leader, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was forced into exile. He was the son of Reza Shah who led a military takeover of the country in 1925. Reza Shah was a very partisan anti-communist which suited the US and British interests very well. At that point in the great game of foreign affairs it was the policy of both the British and the Americans to deny the USSR a warm water port. Iran was a 0critical part of this strategy.

So it fell to Carter to handle the very ugly situation in Tehran. There was an Islamic revolution in Iran as well as a new and open dislike for the US by the government of Iran. Earlier in the 1950's the Oil and Gas assets critical for armed democratic resistance of the communists was nationalized by the Iranians thus seizing it from British Petroleum's control. Bp was formed in 1908 and was an integral part of Middle Eastern Oil resources critical to western Europe. It may interest my readers to note that the British and US governments sponsored a coup in 1953 where Mossadegh who had nationalized the oil assets by successfully challenging the 2nd Shah was in turn overthrown in the coup. The Shah was restored to power and oil continued to flow.

Carter now had two significant foreign policy issues to deal with. The first was the invasion by the Soviets of Afghanistan and the subsequent Islamic revolution in Iran.

It was under these conditions that Ronald Reagan assumed the mantle of leadership and became president of the US.

Central Asian Balkanization

Perhaps the best place to begin discussing such a position would be to assume that the reader either disagrees or is unaware of just how critical this area of the world is to US national interests.

Currently this area is the linchpin of world affairs. In fact almost everywhere you look in the region you will see conflict, business interests and a world game being played out by superpowers, regional powers and the newly developing superpowers.

For purposes of this blog I will place the central asian zone in an area extending essential from Sinkiang-Uigur Westwards to the Caspian/Black Sea basins, and from Kazakhstan south to Thar Indo Gangetic Plains.

Its a huge area, diverse in just about anything you care to measure from rainfall to language, altitude to religion. Its a vast subject and will take extensive time to discuss. I hope we will learn something from it along the way. I can only hope that others will give guidance when they find some facts or perspective missing.

Thanks for reading

A position paper on US policy to foster Central Asian Balkanization

Hello all and thanks for reading this position paper on Balkanization. The main points on this blog will be to assess, compare, contrast and conclude on future US foreign policy in central Asia.

First of all a short introduction. I am an American expat living in Eastern Asia with an avid interest in foreign policy issues, especially involving the country of my birth. I like to think of myself as somewhat of a centrist with a profound dislike of ideologues and extremist political hacks who rarely think through the positions they are espousing. I grew up in Manhattan NY and have attended some of the finer private schools the city has to offer. Along the way I have been fortunate enough to meet a wide variety of people and learn some really amazing things. Enough to know distrust anyone who says they have "all" the answers.

In my university days I focused mostly on the liberal arts including history, political science and international affairs. I also have a deep and compelling interest in geography and to a lessor extent the business aspects and physical science of how things work.

My parents were both NY city employees, and I will freely admit that the unions involved in those jobs have been of a benefit to both myself and my family. I am NOT saying that all unions are a good thing, but I have little tolerance for people who support the dissolution of all unions. However I would welcome such a debate if a reader wished to discuss that at some point in the future.

My hero's are; David Farragut, Teddy Roosevelt, Benjamin Franklin, and Vinegar Joe Stillwell. All great Americans. Farragut for his resolve under fire, Roosevelt for overcoming a childhood of illness related to asthma and later becoming a leader of men, Franklin for being a self made man and Joe Stillwell for doing a job of critical importance to the united states during world war two most of which has been forgotten. All four are critical in the formation of the the USA and to a certain extent its foreign policy.