Thursday, January 10th, 2013 Playing the Great Game by Small Talk: Major Powers and Multilateral Security Institutions in Central Asia

Description

Numerous regional security organisations have emerged in Central Asia since the end of the Cold War, under the leadership of one entrepreneur nation. Starting from the insight that cooperation makes the exercise of power possible, this paper assumes that since the end of the Cold War, major powers have relied on multilateral security institutions as a vehicle for wielding influence in the region. To the extent that security provides the link between power and space, it offers a lever to influence order through the articulation of joint policies. Therefore, it is suggested that multilateral institutions present a strategic option for major powers that bilateral agreements do not match. Their specific value is that they generate opportunities to form the coalitions necessary to promote norms and crystallize power relations. This talk examines the role in shaping the norms underpinning security governance in the region respectively of China in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, Russia in the Collective Security Treaty Organization, and the United States in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. The distinctive discourse promoted by each of these institutions reveals the extent to which security is a contested term in this highly strategic region.