Former Soviet Union: The Next Round of the Great Game

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev went to Uzbekistan on Jan. 22 to meet with Uzbek President Islam Karimov. Medvedev's visit comes on the heels of U.S. Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus' eight-day tour of six countries in Central and South Asia and an announcement that the United States has secured alternative "logistical routes into Afghanistan" through Afghanistan's Central Asian neighbors. Medvedev's visit is meant to counter Petraeus' trip until Washington and Moscow can strike a deal on the United States' use of former Soviet turf to send supplies to U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan.