The Central Asia region in the geopolitical conceptions of Russian intelligence community (second half of the 19th century)
The questions connected with the forming of the Russian geopolitical science are considered in this article. Its founders paid special attention to the Central Asian region in their theoretical ideas. The problems of annexation and exploitation of new territories were thoroughly analyzed in geopolitical conception of Russian intelligence community. The distinctive feature of this conception was the idea of the Empire's «natural» growth in the Central Asia as far as Russia's interests were concerned. This proved really useful when pursuing Russia's foreign policy in the Central Asia.