{"id":1394,"date":"2026-07-21T21:10:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T21:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394"},"modified":"2026-07-21T21:11:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T21:11:01","slug":"central-asia-from-periphery-to-power","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394","title":{"rendered":"Central Asia: From Periphery to Power"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@TheGeopoliticsReview\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Central Asia: From Periphery to Power\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Xlt76MqkjN8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For decades, Central Asia has been overlooked in discussions of global geopolitics. But as competition between Russia, China and the West intensifies, the region has become increasingly important for energy security, trade, connectivity and regional stability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this episode of The Geopolitical Review, I speak with Dr. Filippo Costa-Buranelli (University of St Andrews) about why Central Asia is moving from the geopolitical margins to the centre of international affairs. We discuss Russia&#8217;s changing influence following the invasion of Ukraine, China&#8217;s growing economic presence through the Belt and Road Initiative, and how the region&#8217;s states are exercising greater strategic autonomy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For decades, Central Asia has been overlooked in discussions of global geopolitics. But as competition between Russia, China and the West intensifies, the region has become increasingly important for energy security, trade, connectivity and regional stability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Central Asia: From Periphery to Power - Democratic Security Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Central Asia: From Periphery to Power - Democratic Security Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For decades, Central Asia has been overlooked in discussions of global geopolitics. But as competition between Russia, China and the West intensifies, the region has become increasingly important for energy security, trade, connectivity and regional stability.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Democratic Security Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/profile.php?id=100088850526858\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T21:10:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-21T21:11:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/vlcsnap-2026-07-21-22h52m06s515.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"demsecinstitute\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@demsecinstitute\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@demsecinstitute\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"demsecinstitute\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"demsecinstitute\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/#\/schema\/person\/152bec0207fcadfc3b09da892465859f\"},\"headline\":\"Central Asia: From Periphery to Power\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-21T21:10:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-21T21:11:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394\"},\"wordCount\":117,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/vlcsnap-2026-07-21-22h52m06s515.png\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/demsecinstitute.org\/?p=1394\",\"name\":\"Central Asia: From Periphery to Power - 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