America's New Strategy for Central Asia: Is it Happening?

In February 2020, the U.S. released a new Strategy for Central Asia, subtitled “Advancing Sovereignty and Economic Prosperity.” Since then, the world has changed. How is this Strategy being implemented? This Central Asia-Caucasus Institute Forum discussion will focus on the concrete steps to implement America’s Strategy towards Central Asia.

Our guest speaker Lisa Curtis, Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for South and Central Asia at the National Security Council, The White House, discussed initiatives undertaken as part of the new strategy.  

This discussion was Moderated by: S. Frederick Starr, Chairman, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute.

When: Friday, October 16, 2020 at 10am EDT

The event was live-streamed on the CACI Facebook page and is now availabile on Youtube

 
Published in Forums & Events

S. Frederick Starr

AFPC Defense Dossier, May 31, 2020

This Spring, the Trump administration formally released its official strategy for Central Asia. The occasion marks the first time in more than two decades that the United States has articulated a serious approach to a region where vast economic, geopolitical, and civilizational stakes are in play. Coming on the heels of repeated visits to the region by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the new strategy emphasizes American support for the sovereignty and independence of the Central Asian states, encourages the growth of regional cooperation among them, and acknowledges positive steps toward political and economic reform. Crucially, it also supports the expansion of relations between the Central Asian states and Afghanistan.

In releasing this strategy, the Trump administration has made clear that it views Central Asia as a world region where the United States has intrinsic economic and security interests. This represents a significant departure from the past practice of various U.S. administrations, who allowed the region to slip between the cracks of other national security and foreign policy concerns that were deemed more important.

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Published in Staff Publications
Tuesday, 18 February 2020 00:00

A New Strategy for Central Asia

U.S. Central Asia policy has room to improve, but the Trump administration is steering things on the right track.

S. Frederick Starr and Svante Cornell
The Hill, Febuary 18, 2020

This month, the Trump administration released its strategy for Central Asia. This marks the first time in more than two decades that the United States has come up with a serious approach to a region where vast economic, geopolitical, and civilizational stakes are at issue. It follows visits by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the first trip to the region by someone in that role in half a decade.

Long seen as a stagnant land of Soviet holdovers, Central Asia has been undergoing a dramatic transition led by its two most powerful countries, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Leaders in both countries have plunged into meaningful domestic reforms that are now focused on expanding citizen rights, governmental responsiveness, and the rule of law. They have also taken some important steps toward establishing their own structures for regional cooperation, a process that could result in a kind of Central Asian version of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

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Published in Staff Publications
Friday, 17 March 2017 00:00

Time to Re-Engage

Article, The American Interest, March 17, 2017

S. Frederick Starr, Time to Re-Engage

Whipsawed by years of foreign policy activism and then by general retreat, the United States is at risk of losing an opportunity to cement hard-won gains in Central Asia/Afghanistan.

Starr

Published in Staff Publications
Tuesday, 02 May 2017 00:00

The Raucous Caucasus

Caucasus

Article, The American Interest, May 2, 2017

Svante E. Cornell, 

The Raucous Caucasus

The United States must restore its leverage and credibility in the restive region caught between Russia, Turkey, and Ira

Svante

Published in Staff Publications

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