United States sets sights on Central Asian potential

Never before have the Americans tried so hard to show Central Asians how mutual cooperation can compensate for the inevitable irritation of Russia and China. The approach of the current Trump administration is to put ideological issues aside and focus on economic advantages, finding much greater harmony with the historical “satraps” of the region.

Bishkek (AsiaNes) - The B5+1 economic forum held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in recent days was also attended by the chairman of Tajikistan's State Committee for Investment, Sulton Rakhimzoda, who highlighted the great economic and investment potential of the whole of Central Asia, emphasising the interest in expanding cooperation with the United States, which was the main theme of the entire conference. The conference was attended by numerous representatives of state bodies, the business world and international organisations from the region and the US.

In his speech, Rakhimzoda emphasised the wealth of natural resources and crucial infrastructure that relate to the entire region rather than to individual states, and that the Central Asia-US format is “the ideal dimension for intense and fruitful cooperation, including at the administrative level, in the agri-food complex and industry”.

The most significant potential is human, “young and dynamically evolving”, which must be helped to develop through the exchange of information with international partners, starting with the Americans and their large trade and service companies.

The establishment of increasingly close relations with the Americans, Europeans and Westerners in general may present Central Asia with some very complicated choices, with the risk of provoking the opposition of Russia and China, or disappointing Trump's ambitions and thus remaining dependent on Moscow and Beijing.

This is the view of Carnegie Centre expert Temur Umarov, analysing the outcomes of the Bishkek summit, which confirmed a trend that has been underway for months, with Donald Trump's meetings with the presidents of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and billion-dollar deals beginning to take shape more and more seriously.

Never before have the Americans made such an effort to show Central Asians how mutual cooperation can compensate for the inevitable irritation of their two large Eurasian neighbours. It therefore remains to be seen how effective the new approach will be or whether it will fail in the face of a reality that is difficult to change, “as we have seen in Trump's attempts to stop the Russian-Ukrainian war”, notes Umarov.

After all, the Russians and Chinese have always considered the Americans to be their real competitors throughout the post-Soviet space, much more so than the Europeans, Turks or Indians.

Central Asian leaders have always been sensitive to American pressure, even on issues far removed from the reality of these countries, such as the focus on “democratic values”. The approach of the current Trump administration is therefore setting aside ideological issues to focus on mutual economic advantages, immediately finding much greater harmony with the historical “satraps” of Central Asia.

According to Umarov, “nothing can now distract the presidents of the region from their focus on the White House, neither the American president's vague knowledge of these lands nor the introduction of additional tariffs”, which currently stand at 25% for Kazakhstan and 10% for the other four countries, “publicly sidelining Soros, non-governmental organisations and the fight against climate change”.

While distancing themselves from the previous Biden administration, the current American proposals do not differ greatly from those already in place in previous years with the Central Asian states, starting with their interest in rare earths.

Now everything hinges on the effective implementation of the many projects, while local presidents compete to see who can most effectively praise their colleague in Washington. So far, Kazakhstan's Tokaev is clearly in the lead, having described Trump as “a great leader and a true statesman, sent from heaven to restore common sense and the traditions we all share, both in US domestic politics and in relations with foreign countries such as ours”, with the implicit blessing of Putin and Xi Jinping, who know they will remain in power far longer than any American president.

• Central Asia
• Bishkek
• USA
• B5+1
• Trump
• Russia
• China