Despite China’s considerable economic influence, however, China has largely been unable to project its soft power into the region, as it has been unable to do in many areas of the world – if indeed it wants to.

Many of the problems that plague Central Asia are the result of neighbors who see each other more as rivals than allies. But institutions like the OSCE Academy are trying to reverse that trend by providing rigorous educations for future politicians, entrepreneurs and civil-society workers, while also encouraging them to think beyond their national borders by considering the Eurasian region in its entirety.

A fresh crisis in former Soviet Central Asia offers an opportunity for cooperation when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev calls on President Barack Obama at the White House next week.