Abstract
Autore:
Fiori Antonio, Passeri Andrea
Titolo:
"Il riassetto dell’Asia centrale e il ruolo della Corea del Sud"
The article is aimed at exploring the recent rise of South
Korea as a relevant actor within the post– Cold War “great
game” in Central Asia. Drawing upon the aspiration to play a
bridging role in the developing world – which is also
consistent with its self–image of a dynamic middle power –
Seoul has embarked on a multifaceted engagement campaign
vis–à–vis the five Central Asia’s republics, under the
banner of the “Eurasia Initiative”. Those efforts reflect
the imperatives to diversify the sources of energy supplies
and to open up new markets for South Korean private actors,
also providing an interesting “testing ground” for Seoul’s
soft power tools. The first paragraph describes the
political context in which Korea’s “global diplomacy” was
framed, with a particular attention on the Lee Myung–bak and
Park Geun-hye’s administrations. The following part recalls
the historical evolution of bilateral ties between South
Korea and, respectively, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, since the formal establishment
of diplomatic relations in 1992. Energy cooperation as the
backbone of Seoul’s rising interest towards the region is
the core of the third section, while the final part
highlights the geostrategic nexus that, still today, ignites
an intense competition among great powers to gain a “place
in the sun” in Central Asia.
