Central Asia: a big game?

Today we will talk about Central Asia. As a result of two summits held in Moscow - that of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation and the Eurasian Economic Community - Russia has seemed to be strengthening ties with the Central Asian nations. This show of unity comes as Kyrgyzstan confirmed its decision to end the lease of the Manas air base to the U.S. military. What is the importance of this region for Russia? How might the U.S. react after theyve been sent packing? Well be talking with Aleksey Malashenko, a member of the Carnegie Moscow Centre Expert Council and Irina Kobrinskaya, a leading research fellow at the Institute of World Economy and International Relations at the Russian Academy of Sciences.