Are we in the middle of the new Great Game?

“The Great Game On Secret Service in High Asia (by Peter Hopkirk)” is the first book I ever read about Central Asia. It was such a fascinating read.

The term “Great Game” refers to the period from 1830 to 1895 when the British Empire competed against the Russian Empire to “divide” Central Asia. Such competition was driven out of suspicion that the Russian Empire planned to ultimately invade British India via Central Asia and Afghanistan. It was a period that was filled with thrilling stories and espionage.

Hoping to extend its influence in Afghanistan to keep it a buffer state between British India and Central Asia, it led Britain to invade Afghanistan but only to fail horrendously. Such failure evoked a saying in Afghanistan that it could only be conquered by Alexander the Great or Genghis Khan (well, Soviets tried and failed too decades later).

The Great Game only stopped thanks to the outbreak of the first World War when Russia dramatically decided to join Britain to fight against the Germans. With the end of the first World War and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the history of the Middle East began to be heavily influenced by the Western powers. Central Asia, on the other hand, joined the Soviet Union and shied away from international attention.

After the breakdown of the Soviet Union, these once fierce Central Asian nations were brought to the international stage again. All the Western powers, together with the “new powers” of our time, started to exert their influence again and tried to get a piece of it.

Are we witnessing the new Great Game? Well, let alone the resemblance, history only serves to repeat itself. Hopefully, this time with less loss of lives.