#9

"In such a world of conflict, a world of victims and executioners, it is the job of thinking people, not to be on the side of the executioners."

- Albert Camus

What exactly does the term 'The Great Game' refer to? Well, it basically refers to two periods of British-Russian competition over the occupation of the greater Central Asia. Historically speaking the first of these periods was larger, both time wise and significance from a scholarly stand point. The term 'Great Game' was coined itself by popular British spy Arthur Conolly sometime during the early 1800s.

The first segment of the Great Game took place for roughly a hundred years from the early 19th century to the early 20th century. At the time Britain had a strong presence in the nearby territories due to the British East India Trading company, largely in India. Central Asia itself was constructed far differently than how it is today. Instead of 5 large nations, there were many smaller self-governing Emirates.

Russia saw these people, rich in their natural goods, as an easy profit. We give them civilization, they trade with us. Slowly but surely Russian influence was spreading and some of the locals even accepted it, others however put up a fight. The Brits naturally saw this as a threat to their empire so something was going to have to be done.

What came out of this? Harsh British resentment in the region, Russian puppet states in areas such as Afghanistan, and two Anglo-Afghan wars. As World War I approached though and German domination in the near Middle East was looming, the two enemies put their differences aside in order to fend off what was perceived to be a greater enemy. A peace treaty was signed and the Great Game was finished.

Or at least temporarily. In 1917 something groundbreaking occured which not only changed the fate of the world but also the Great Game's. When the Soviet's disbanded the Russian hierarchy and took control of the nation, many allegiances the nation held with other states were broken. This included Great Britain.

As a result the past armistice was broken and tensions once again arose, the game was in play again but this time for a slightly shorter amount of time. This time around many things changed but some stayed the same, Afghanistan was once again a major battle front even providing the setting for the third installment of an Anglo-Afghan war, this time with a more favorable result for the British.

Things ended here the same way they did the first time around. In the late 1930s Germany's power in the region was growing and with a second World War in everyone's nightmares, certain enemies were made friends with the flick of a pen. The Great Game hasn't been played in many years, but who knows maybe it shall re-occur.

Some say it has, but the rules have changed. It is no longer strictly a British-Russian feud, but both sides are still present. N.A.T.O. led by the U.S. is in quite the silent battle against the Russian-Chinese dominated Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). What's at stake? Oil pipelines. This modern day issue may not necessarily mirror the historic Great Game, but it surely goes to show that Central Asia has always been quite the commodity for the global powers.