The Impact of Sanctions against Russia on Central Eurasia: A New Great Game through a Feminist Lens

This paper is an attempt to better understand a hard-core security issue through a feminist lens or to grasp a new 'Great Game' (3) emerging in central Eurasia by using a feminist understanding of power. The war in Ukraine is considered pivotal to the direction of world history, global order, and the very architecture of the international system. While NATO and Western powers are reluctant to go into a direct military confrontation with Russia over Ukraine, sanctions on Russia have repercussions that extend way beyond Russian borders. Specifically, the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and South Caucasus--which have continued to be almost an integrated part of the extended Russian economy--are experiencing a stronger impact of sanctions than initially planned by the international community. This paper aims to address the unintended consequences of sanctions against Russia on the extended Eurasian space. It claims that sanctions against Russia represent both a trap and an opportunity for the so-called small states in Central Asia and South Caucasus, subjecting them to the patterns of the world hierarchies on one hand and providing the space for maneuver, on the other. A question in focus here is what conditions the so-called small Eurasian actors may need to overcome to remove themselves from Russian dependency. This article relies on the ontology of feminist security studies by focusing on the marginal actors of the Great Game, discovering that resilience is another form of soft power in today's international relations. Keywords: Great Game, Sanctions against Russia, Central Asia, South Caucasus, Feminist security studies, Feminist ontology, Soft power, Geopolitics
Introduction Reportedly, sanctions against Russia, which followed its invasion of Ukraine, have led to alternative global supply chains and the 'shadow shipping and financing infrastructure' to be created, making the [...]