Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 15
By Anakhanum Hidayatova – Trend:
Newly-elected US President Donald Trump’s policy on Central Asia can be determined after a new foreign policy team is appointed, Leonid Gusev, senior research fellow at the Analytical Center of the International Studies Institute at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, told Trend November 15.
Gusev, who is also PhD in historical sciences, added that there was such information that two candidates - Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York, and John Bolton, former US ambassador to the UN, are being considered for the post of secretary of state.
“The candidacy of Newt Gingrich was also mentioned, but he refused,” the expert said.
"During the second term of US incumbent President Barack Obama, the Central Asian region, including Afghanistan, was on the periphery of the US foreign policy and China took advantage of it by intensifying its activity in the region,” he added.
“Thus, Trump’s new foreign policy team will try to limit Chinese influence in the region," Gusev added.
The expert added that the struggle for Central Asia will intensify.
“In many respects Trump's foreign policy will be based on limiting Chinese influence everywhere, and especially in the economic sphere,” he said.
Gusev added that Central Asia is one of the regions where the interests of the two countries will clash.
“As for the policy, the appointment to the top foreign policy posts will reveal it, as greatly depends on the personalities,” he said.
The presidential election was held in the US November 8. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump won the election. The newly elected president will take office on January 20.