Aiming for the Center: An Emphasis on Central Asia’s Role

By John W. Parks

Thinking of Central Asia as a roundabout, or a master key, or a distribution hub of global trade infrastructure, could not be any more correct. China, Iran, and the United States have recently ramped up their initiatives to include the Central Asian states in trade partnerships. Though the Great Powers have little agreement on their initiatives, one theme remains constant: to access customers on the other side of the world, one must first unlock Central Asia.

The most active power is China, who is pursuing Central Asian economic integration with fervor and intent. As the Central Asian states turn their collective heads away from historical ally, Russia, China aims to sweep the region with its broad brush of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The BRI has materialized in energy and transportation projects. A China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railroad is slated to begin construction in November 2024 and be completed by the end of the decade. The effort is being championed by the leadership of each state involved as Central Asia’s pathway to oceanic trade and China’s pathway to Europe and the Middle East. Similarly, telecommunications giant Huawei is expanding its fiber network and fixed wireless access (FWA) towers throughout Central Asia and the Middle East to facilitate industry-specific communication and remote education.

At the recent 2024 BRICS summit, Iran’s first attendance saw the Middle Eastern state join the Central Asian conversation. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke with representatives of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan at the meeting regarding an agricultural partnership with the two states. Central to the conversation was the Iranian provision of engineering, technology, and expertise to expand Uzbekistan’s agricultural sector. Iranian representatives have also expressed interest in the expansion of air and rail infrastructure to the Central Asian states for the purpose of a north-south trade route. This strategic move is an extension of anti-West policy by the Islamic Republic that could entice an ailing Russian hegemony in Central Asia.

Despite its geographic disconnection, the United States has initiated the C5+1 and B5+1 organizations to expand commercial opportunities for Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. The inaugural September 2023 summit was attended by President Joe Biden, showing the perceived value of partnerships with the Central Asian states. A future summit is planned for 2025.

The initiatives of China, Iran, and the United States share a theme of using the Central Asian region to reach markets on the other side of the region. For the Islamic Republic, a north-south trade route with Russia to ship goods out of the Persian Gulf could be incredibly lucrative, but only possible with partnerships in Central Asia. China and the United States share interest in open trade to and from China and the European Union, though again, only possible with favorable Central Asian relations. Central Asia is increasingly becoming crucial to the economic statecraft of world producers because of its central geographic location and relations with the region will be a closely followed subject of the near future.