On the one hand the immediate proximity to a region where instability is escalating reveals a number of challenges to international security, on the other hand the region also reveals high energy potential. For this reason Central Asia has become a region of interest and concern for Russia, U.S., EU, China,India, Iran and Pakistan. However, the situation is changing. It is increasingly clear that the goals that were set are unlikely to be achieved without the active involvement of Russian security projects. It is necessary to increase the effectiveness of regional cooperation mechanisms through organizations such as – SCO, CSTO, EurAsEC.PIR Center’s project “Security in Central Asia and Russia” defines the main vectors of rivalry and cooperation in the region.The objective of the project is to answer the question of the optimal strategy of behavior of Russia in Central Asia.