HOW DOES GEOPOLITICAL REASONING IN US FOREIGN POLICY LEAD TO ERRONEOUS ASSUMPTIONS IN THE REPRESENTATION OF PLACES? A CASE OF CENTRAL ASIA

This paper aims to examine the role of geopolitical reasoning in shaping US foreign policy, specifically in Central Asia. The United States’ global power is often attributed to its military and economic strength, but it also wields significant power through its ability to shape discourses and represent regions or states in certain ways. This paper examines how the US labels countries or regions—such as categorising some as part of the “Third World” and others as “democratic” or part of the “Western World”. The research explores the objectivity of these representations and how they oversimplify complex geopolitical realities. Using critical geopolitics as a theoretical framework, the paper argues that US foreign policy in Central Asia, like in other regions, often ignores the real geographical, socio-political, and cultural conditions, leading to distorted understandings.