Post-Soviet Regional Security Complex Revisited: Is Central Asia Still A Subcomplex?

Abstract

In this study, Central Asia is addressed within the framework of the Regional Security Complex Theory. In the Regional Security Complex theory developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver, Central Asia is defined as a sub-complex that constitutes the Post-Soviet Regional Security Complex but claims that it can become a separate complex under certain conditions. Twenty years after their pioneering study, the continuities and changes in the region have necessitated an analysis of where the authors’ claim stands. Therefore, in this study, the areas that need to be revised in the original work and the transformations have been evaluated. The study emphasizes the importance of political security in the region’s transformation into a separate complex, but attempts to demonstrate that it cannot yet be considered a separate complex.