The New Great Game

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During the 1800's, the British and Russian Empires clashed over territorial disputes, each seeking to undermine the other's thirst for imperial prestige. Dubbed "the Great Game" the two superpowers fought without the direct conflict, playing with local allies in their contested areas as proxies to battle their rivals. They did so, at the expense of Muslim controlled Asia, using an already crumbling civilization as a battle ground. Russia sought to take over a crumbling Ottoman Empire (which was based in Modern Turkey) and unite the Slavs under one sovereign: The Tsar. Britain, France and Austria-Hungary feared that an already enlarged military superpower in Russia would threaten the balance of power, as well as disrupt their colonies' economies (particularly Britain and it's profitable trade in its Indian colony). And like the US today, Imperial Russia fought the locals, backed by an alliance of like-minded regimes. Today, the United States of America and the Free World faces the same challenge from rising Superpowers China, Russia and Iran. They are playing a chess match with the United States, engulfing again Muslim West and Central Asia, for the same purpose. The Middle East is in a midst of a revolution, seeking to catch up with the West in basic rights and freedom. What began in Iran, shrunk, but crept and grew into the Arab Spring Revolutions. The protests in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya toppled it's autocracies in succession. The other autocracies like Russia and newly christened Superpower China fear the same fates for their regimes, such so that they have condemned the Syrians to die by their dictator's hands, dismissing calls for a UN Security Council Resolution. Iran, too feels a noose tighten in its plans to dominate the Middle East, should the Arab Spring take over Syria. It would lose an important ally; just when it is about to finish developing its nuclear arsenal, to be the game changer in the US dominated, oil rich region. The US and its Western Allies have shown support for democracy in the Middle East; even to the determent of its dictator backed allies. It is a "noble sacrifice" for the democratic wave to spread to Central and East Asia. Currently, unmolested open protests are occurring in Russia and China. It is something that has no precedent. Kazakhstan, Belarus and the other Central Asian countries are feeling the tug of war between tyranny and democracy as well. The region, too is a focal point of political upheaval, being close to China and Russia's sphere of influence. Another theater of war in this global conflict is the Pakistan/Afghanistan regions. Both China and Iran have interests in the war between the Taliban and the US-led NATO missions. Iran fears another stable proxy of the Americans would bring itself to another headache, given that it is Shiite-led and Afghanistan is Sunni-dominated. The former too, had problems with its neighbor's former rulers, the Taliban, but they were not politically stable enough to cause concern, during their reign. China has its alliance with Pakistan, whose Intelligence Agency supports the Taliban and other Islamic Extremists. China is hoping to kill two birds with one stone, by forcing the US into a quagmire, similar to that of the 1960's Vietnam War; and prop up Pakistan, to distract it's equally rising regional rival India. With China's military support for Pakistan's armed forces and the latter seemingly arming extremists to undermine India and Afghanistan, one has to question how much the former's level of involvement in the "AfPak Conflict" is. Lastly, Iraq, subjected to a US-led invasion, was a strategic blunder by America's leadership; and led to the rise to regional power of neighboring Iran, is too another area of the New Great Game. Iran and its supported militias will cause chaos enough in Iraq to destabilize American allies in the region. A spillover in Bahrain and other Shiite dominated regions is feared by the Sunnis. The first Great Game led to a stalemate in which Russia and Great Britain were forced to align against its toy, the Ottoman Empire. In this installment of the Great Game, one of the participants is in the Ottoman Empire's situation; the United States of America, whose influence is shrinking as China's (and Iran's in the Middle East) rises. This is the situation West, Central and South Asia faces. The question is, how many moves are China, Russia and Iran are ahead by? Or are they headed to a humiliating stalemate?