Muslim Population: Terror Attacks and Power Rivalries

muslim population: Its abundant natural resources, its large Muslim population and its geographic location at the crossroads of Asia, the Middle East and Europe make it an increasingly important geopolitical consideration, according to The Japan Times. Japan should use its long, underappreciated history of engagement with Central Asia to promote stability in this vital area. While that region usually gets little attention except when things go wrong or when foreign media highlight its quirks it has assumed growing importance in geopolitics. During the 19th century, Central Asia was the locus of the Great Game, a geopolitical contest between the British and Russian empires that became the template for future great power rivalries. The terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 the planning, logistical and financial support for which originated in that part of the world made clear that Central Asia could no longer be ignored. ; Russia and China led the institutional forays into the region with the creation in 2001 of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a grouping that originally included those two countries, along with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The region was incorporated into the Soviet Union and largely ignored during the Cold War; dissolution of that empire and the emergence of a handful of independent states with untested governments created opportunities for engagement, but most attention was focused elsewhere. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.