US Focuses Attention on Central Asia With New Economic Initiative – The Diplomat

Donald Lu, the U.S. assistant secretary of State for South and Central Asia, is touring to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan from November 6-11. It’s Lu’s second journey to Central Asia this yr, with an earlier voyage by way of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan in Might and follows a wave of elevated engagement with an more and more vital area.

Lu’s journey, the State Division mentioned, goals to emphasise “our shared aim of a affluent, safe, and democratic Central Asia.” Lu is anticipated to debate a variety of bilateral points in every nation, in addition to launch a brand new $25 million financial initiative within the area.

The present journey comes amid heightened concentrate on Central Asia, relative to its place bordering each Russia and China, which the just lately launched U.S. Nationwide Safety Technique (NSS) characterised as posing “completely different challenges.” In delineating these challenges, the NSS acknowledged that Russia “poses a right away menace to the free and open worldwide system” whereas China “is the one competitor with each the intent to reshape the worldwide order and, more and more, the financial, diplomatic, navy, and technological energy to advance that goal.” Put otherwise: Russia is the problem of the current and China the problem of the long run; Central Asia borders each. 

U.S. technique towards Central Asia stays framed by a method unveiled in early February 2020 by the Trump administration’s State Division. The technique, with the then-still aspirational withdrawal from Afghanistan in thoughts, sought to reframe the U.S. strategy to engagement with the area past the warfare in Afghanistan. 

On the time of its launch, Alice Wells, then the principal deputy assistant secretary for South and Central Asia, advised The Diplomat that the technique’s central mantra — U.S. assist for the area’s “independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity” — is “mainly the holy trinity of U.S. coverage in Central Asia.”

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Whereas a lot has modified since early February 2020, the U.S. technique towards Central Asia has solely turn out to be extra related. There’s nothing notably novel about emphasizing “independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity,” however the Russian invasion of Ukraine pushed dialogue of those fundamental options of the trendy state system again into the limelight. (Hear that? It’s the sound of 1,000,000 IR grads whispering “Westphalian sovereignty” into the night time.)

In any case, as famous above, the announcement of Lu’s November journey as soon as once more featured point out of the “holy trinity,” noting that Lu’s visits would “reinforce america’ dedication to every nation’s independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”

The Central Asian area’s democratic credentials are weak, however U.S. geopolitical issues are usually not. Whereas coalition constructing with different democracies is a characteristic of the Biden administration’s overarching overseas coverage, the NSS all the identical famous that “many non-democracies be part of the world’s democracies in forswearing” behaviors stemming from the layering of “authoritarian governance with a revisionist overseas coverage.” The NSS highlighted “waging or making ready for wars of aggression, actively undermining the democratic political processes of different nations, leveraging know-how and provide chains for coercion and repression, and exporting an intolerant mannequin of worldwide order” as behaviors even non-democracies are involved about. Certainly, within the nice sorting between autocracies and democracies, the Biden administration carved out an area for “nations that don’t embrace democratic establishments however nonetheless rely on and assist a rules-based worldwide system.”

Central Asia suits into the grey space between revisionist autocracies and Western-style liberal democracies. As a comparatively younger area of impartial states, hemmed in geographically by giant powers, there’s lengthy been urge for food for diversification — of companions and commerce routes, particularly.

The warfare in Ukraine has additionally heightened consideration to and consciousness of Central Asia. Given the area’s financial integration with Russia, worldwide sanctions on Moscow trickle down into Central Asia by way of varied avenues, amplifying difficulties for the landlocked area whose main buying and selling routes traverse Russia. There have been upsides — such because the relocation of some companies from Russia to Kazakhstan — but additionally important downsides because the states of Central Asia attempt to keep away from secondary sanctions and adapt to future limitations on their financial and buying and selling choices. With each Russia and Iran below sanctions, Central Asia has a dwindling variety of neighbors by way of which it will probably commerce: Taliban-controlled Afghanistan and China. 

In mild of those difficulties, and following a profitable ministerial C5+1 assembly in September on the sidelines of the U.N. Common Meeting, america introduced the launching of the Financial Resilience Initiative in Central Asia. A State Division spokesperson advised The Diplomat that below the initiative the U.S. will present $25 million find for sustainable improvement within the area. 

“The Financial Resilience Initiative will assist the event of the area’s commerce routes and capability, educate and practice a talented workforce, and entice worldwide funding to Central Asia,” the spokesperson mentioned.

As part of the initiative, america plans to launch what it has dubbed “C5+O.N.E. or Opening Networks by way of English” — a program that can make investments $5 million to assist regional efforts to construct a “twenty first century workforce and entice overseas funding by prioritizing English language coaching for younger professionals in vital sectors.” 

The financial piece is especially vital for Central Asia’s governments because the warfare in Ukraine drags on and sanctions on Russia persist. The concentrate on English language studying, and a “twenty first century workforce,” nonetheless, are usually not a part of fast reduction efforts, however fairly a long-term technique to cement the English-speaking world as an avenue for future financial, social, political, and cultural improvement. Bear in mind: Central Asia borders what the U.S. considers each its fast problem — Russia — and the nice problem of the long run — China.