From the early 1800s, shortly after the Napoleonic Wars, the struggle between Britain and Tsarist Russia for economic and political dominance in Central Asia began. This struggle would come to be known as the “Good game.”
The phrase “Great Game” was first coined by British diplomat Arthur Conolly in 1840.
The Great Game referred to political maneuvering between the British Empire and the Russian Empire. Initially centered in Afghanistan, the Great Game has moved to India, where the United States and Russia are vying for influence in the world’s largest democracy.
The Big Game in the 1800s
Britain’s political objective in the 1800s was to prevent Russia from gaining political and military control of Afghanistan, which would provide Russia with an invasion route into its Indian possessions.
Britain wanted to make Afghanistan a protectoratethen use the Ottoman Empire and other nations to protect India from Russia.
Russia feared that Britain would interfere with its expansion into Central Asia, which it was in the process of conquering. Russia had begun to expand into Central Asia around 1718 when Abu’l-Khair Muhammed Khan asked Russia to provide military protection, but his son, Nur Ali Khan, tried to force Russia to leave, but could not force them to leave.
In 1781, Russia controlled what is now known as Kazakhstan. By 1885, Russia had advanced to the Persian Empire. Britain threatened with war if Russia advanced further southand a treaty was signed to divide Persia in 1907, with Russia controlling the northern part of Persia (Iran) and Britain controlling the southern part.
With political borders fully established and both nations preoccupied with the expansionist policies of the Prussian Empire, the Great Game between Britain and Russia came to an end.
The Great Game Resurrected
An updated version of the Great Game appears to be in the works, with the United States and Russia vying for influence with India. With the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Russia seeking to upend the current world order, the United States and Russia are vying for an alliance with India.
Diplomatic relations between the United States and India, beginning with Indian independence, were immediately caught up in the struggle between the United States and the then Soviet Union. The political elite in the United States was convinced that it was engaged in a life-and-death struggle against communism, and that elite believed that closer relations with the visceral anti-communism of Pakistan corresponded better to their worldview than the political of India’s non-alignment.
With the end of the Cold War and the rise of China and its “Wolf Warrior” diplomacy, the United States seeks a coalition to confront China and prevent the outbreak of war in the Indo-Pacific region. . One of the main pillars of this policy is the alliance with India. India is a member of a loose and informal alliance of the United States, Australia and Japan, known as the the Quad.
India’s enduring relationship with Russia complicates this policy. India has a long diplomatic history with Russia. When India proclaimed a non-alignment movement, Russia supported India in its quest for neutrality in its early years. When there were tensions between Pakistan and India, Russia supported India with loans and military equipment. At the moment, Russia is supplying India with oil with a big discountand India is considering pay russia in rupees under a system called SPFS.
As Russia invades Ukraine, the United States is torn between punishing India with sanctions and trying to make the best of a difficult situation. On the one hand, the need for the United States to pressure China’s western borders, and the need to financially starve Russia to weaken its war machine.
The United States is also aware that under the current Indian government there is a perceived shift towards what is called authoritarian democratic government, or electoral autocracy.
The main reason the United States reached out to India was its tentative embrace of democracy. Although the slide towards authoritarian government in India has not surfaced in official US diplomatic parlance, it has been noticed. For now, the United States seems to be choosing a Machiavellian strategy.
India, on the other hand, must be aware that to fend off China and Pakistan, it needs the help of the United States.
How the United States can win the Great Game
If the United States is prepared to turn a blind eye to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s growing shift to authoritarianism, then the United States must take concrete steps to convince India that its best course lies in an economic alliance, political and military with the United States. .
To do this, the United States must be willing to supply India with the military equipment that India needs. The United States has already pledged to help build six nuclear power plants in India. It therefore makes sense to supply India with nuclear-powered propulsion systems for its submarines. The United States should also be ready to supply India with other weapons systems.
Politically, the United States can woo India by aggressively promoting and sponsoring India to have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council and granting it veto power.
It will be interesting to see how the Biden administration rises to this challenge.
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