The world was introduced to the new year and decade with a political bang, i.e., the American assassination of the top Iranian general, Soleimani, and the Iranian retaliatory missile strikes against American bases in Iraq. This does not seem to be the end of the tensions between Iran and the US. Iran, what it does, and what happens to it matters to the region and the world due to both the geopolitical and geoeconomic role of the country. Iran’s geopolitical significance and the tensions related to it are known known to many. What is often ignored is the geoeconomic role of the country in the emerging geography of Eurasia.
Iran is highly significant to China, India, and Russia geoeconomically, which can even further complicate the near and mid-term future of the tensions between Iran and the US [Iran’s Largest Clients Are China, India & Russia. This Could Get Messy]. The country is central to the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and is an integral part of the BRI corridor that passes through Central Asia and arrives in West Asia. It has an indispensable role in the Indian North South Transport Corridor, as it (especially the Port of Chabahar) is the only viable access point that India can have in order to be connected to the Eurasian landmass. China and India are the largest buyers of Iranian energy [Iran is China’s Gas Station for New Trade Route]. Iran is also poised to join the Russian initiative, EEU, in the coming years. Iran, Russia, and China held a four-day naval exercise in the waters around Iran and the Indian Ocean [Iran-Russia-China Trilateral Naval Exercise: China’s New Mideast Strategy?]. The current dynamics have led some to argue that there is an emerging Sino-Russian security architecture in West Asia which is trying to create a bridge between Iran and its Gulf rivals [The Middle East's Year of the Dragonbear]. Iran’s image in the West is that of a geopolitical country. But the country is equally (if not more) significant from a geo-economic standpoint. Now the question is: how do geopolitics and geo-economics influence the Iranian story?
M. Forough
Due to technical problems we were unable to publish a newsletter last week. Our sincere apologies.
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