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for its part, is slowly resuming religious ties with the region, in particular with
Uzbekistan, after Presidents Rouhani and Mirziyoyev met on the sides of the meet-
ing of the Organisation of Islamic Countries in September 2017 in Astana, Kazakh-
stan. India and Pakistan, conversely, are looking for
investments and co-operation in the fields of trans-
portation, energy and water resources.
Crucially, the plurality of actors interacts and op-
erates in the region with different sets of goals and
without eliciting strong competition or overly hostile
dynamics. Therefore, rather than blunt competition
and adversarial politics, relations between Central
Asian and great powers are best described as tactical
partnerships with different normative templates, new
platforms for co-operation, and evolving structures
for dialogue.
Thus, the use of the Great Game narrative in relation to Central Asia is a game
in itself. As the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur once said: “The key to metaphor
is the perception of a resemblance between two ideas.” Yet the metaphor of the
new Great Game, rather than faithfully representing, clarifying and resembling
the complex regional dynamics of Central Asia, obscures them like the worst of
clichés.Filippo Costa Buranelli is a lecturer in international relations at
University of St Andrews specialising in Central Asia.Rather than blunt
competition and
adversarial politics,
relations between
Central Asian states
and the great powers
are best described as
tactical partnerships.Opinion & Analysis The new Great Game that is not, Filippo Costa Buranelli