Achieving America’s Vision for Central Asia

The 1990s provided the United States with an unprecedented opportunity to promote democracy and freedom in Central Asian countries. The fall of the Soviet Union opened the borders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan to the world. In the 2000s, the United States cooperated with these nations to help fight the War on Terror in the Middle East, particularly via the Northern Distribution Network. But the region lost relevance during U.S. withdrawals from Afghanistan and Iraq. Now, amid the resurgence of terrorist threats from the Middle East, the United States should revitalize its presence in Central Asia by strengthening security and economic ties with regional powers while taking a softer approach on calls for government reforms.In early November, Secretary of State John Kerry visited all five Central Asian nations in an attempt to rekindle U.S. ties with the region. This trip followed the release of a new plan for reengagement that was developed by the Obama administration in April 2015: An Enduring Vision for Central Asia. The strategy strives to help the United States advance key interests in Eurasia. Central Asia plays an important role in U.S. foreign policy that is often overlooked by politicians. These states have aided in the War on Terror and have the potential to serve as a bulwark to Russian and Chinese influence. This plan will target three major aspects of bilateral relations: strengthening security partnerships, forging closer economic ties, and advancing governance and human rights.Protecting Central Asia from outside threats requires the establishment and maintenance of security partnerships with each country. The Central Asian nations have been consistent allies to the United States and NATO in counterterrorism operations in the Middle East. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the United States sought to strengthen relations with countries neighboring Afghanistan to fight the War on Terror more efficiently. The Central Asian republics served as reliable partners in these operations and sought U.S. assistance to combat domestic terrorism within their borders. With U.S. ground troops removed from Iraq and few remaining in Afghanistan, the American military significantly decreased its presence in the region. A clear example of this is the U.S. departure from the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan, giving a clear path for Russia to gain a foothold.The United States and the nations of Central Asia currently have an excellent opportunity to further develop security cooperation. These states have a common interest in combating the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and other radical groups such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). ISIS has successfully recruited many young men from Central Asia, and the jihadist group threatens to undermine the stability of the region. The autocratic leaders of these countries seek to prevent continued recruitment and instability. By working to strengthen intelligence sharing, military-to-military engagement, and law enforcement relationships, the United States can work with Central Asian states to achieve shared goals in fighting terror.Several of the Central Asian nations have already created modifications to improve cooperation in this area. Kazakhstan showed its willingness to cooperate last February when representatives of the United States and Kazakhstan signed a Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters. The agreement allows greater intergovernmental cooperation in law enforcement, including in the sharing of witness testimonies and additional documents and records. This type of agreement is an excellent yet subtle way for the United States to build greater cooperation in the field of security, and it is a model to implement going forward.The security of Central Asia is important not only for regional stability but also due to the vast resource wealth of the region. Countries such as Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have resource-rich lands, which provide excellent opportunities to further economic ties. Currently, the Central Asian states rely on America’s geopolitical foes to develop natural resource intensive industries. Turkmenistan exports massive quantities of gas, but a large portion of the state’s exports go to China. Kazakhstan relies heavily on Russia for energy transit to Europe. Russia and China have the opportunity to use their geographical locations and economic leverage to politically manipulate Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. This is why it is essential for the United States to help facilitate alternative energy transit routes out of the Central Asian region, whether they are pipelines or railroads that avoid Russia, or to help find new customers to the South and West.To best accomplish this, the U.S. government should make a concerted effort to facilitate private investment in Central Asia. This will not only contribute to new infrastructure but also help Kazakhstan’s economy grow. These projects are expensive and the Central Asian governments do not have the means to fund them. This has brought them into the arms of China and Russia, whose governments are more than happy to provide billions of dollars for infrastructure development. American companies, at the behest of the U.S. government, have an excellent opportunity to help alternative energy projects come to fruition.The promotion of good governance and human rights poses the largest hurdle for U.S. policy makers. Advocating for a freer and more open society only isolates authoritarian regimes like Islam Karimov’s in Uzbekistan, but remaining silent and abetting such behavior is in direct contrast to American values. This issue requires American politicians to take a nuanced approach to these regimes. Politicians should avoid overt condemnations of government authority and instead support civil society groups, following the example set by the National Endowment of Democracy and other non-governmental organizations. While supporting civil society organizations in Central Asia is important, it must be acknowledged that there are a number of challenges associated with such a policy. Just recently Kyrgyzstan, seen as the most democratic of the Central Asian nations, passed a ‘Foreign Agent’ law limiting Western efforts at promoting democracy.Another obstacle in pursuing foreign relations in Central Asia is that the countries have traditionally opted for a multi-vector approach to foreign policy. Essentially, these states may seek out different strategic partners if they find that one particular country threatens to undermine their own domestic interests. Therefore, pursuing objectives in the economic and security realm should take precedence over governance as the latter may potentially damage U.S.-Central Asian relations.A defining factor of President Obama’s foreign policy is the ‘Pivot to Asia’—or at least it was intended to be. Preoccupation with conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Ukraine delayed the implementation of the administration’s foreign policy pivot. Yet, this new foreign policy agenda still ignores the importance of Central Asia, as the focus is instead on East and South Asia. If the United States wants to continue to play a defining role in transnational security and promote liberal-democratic values around the world, the United States should take advantage of every opportunity for reengagement with this region.