Abstract
Abstract This article reflects on how the concept of regionalism has been used to explain and interpret Central Asian politics since independence. It argues that regionalism, often a norm-laden analytical category based on Eurocentric assumptions, tends to paint the region as “failed” and regional states as incapable of institutionalizing multilateral relations. In its place, the article suggests the concept of order, which is more neutral and—through its focus on the operation of sovereignty, diplomacy, international law, authoritarianism, and great power management—is able to incorporate elements of both the conflict and cooperation that have marked the region’s politics since 1991.
Highlights
This paper offers reflections on discourses of regionalism in Central Asia, which have been revamped in both the academic and policy spheres since Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s election as President of Uzbekistan in late 2016, which led to a thaw in relations between the Central Asian republics
Most analyses of the regional politics of Central Asian regionalism focus on the lack of regionalism, which the authors of these analyses find puzzling.[30]
According to Kols, “the success of regionalism in Europe can be an important example for the nations of Central Asia.”[41]. It is perhaps not by chance that the European External Action Service, in its 2020 factsheet on Europe[an] Union (EU)-Central Asia Relations, noted that “the new momentum in intra-Central Asia regional cooperation has enhanced the relevance of the EU’s own experience in crafting cooperative solutions to crossborder challenges.”[42]. Importantly, when the West/Europe is not taken as a benchmark—as perhaps in the case of less formal regional arrangements, such as the Visegrad Group or the Nordic Council—other institutionalized and formalized contexts are framed as examples to imitate; ASEAN, for instance, has been a popular point of comparison.[43]
Summary
In my Dushanbe presentation, entitled “International Society and Central Asia: The Brotherly Republics?”, I summarized the Western literature on regionalism in Central Asia, finding broad— not exclusive—consensus that regionalism in the region has been unproductive and limited, while the region itself is seen as plagued by mistrust, non-cooperation, underlying conflict, and disagreements. According to Kols, “the success of regionalism in Europe can be an important example for the nations of Central Asia.”[41] It is perhaps not by chance that the European External Action Service, in its 2020 factsheet on EU-Central Asia Relations, noted that “the new momentum in intra-Central Asia regional cooperation has enhanced the relevance of the EU’s own experience in crafting cooperative solutions to crossborder challenges.”[42] Importantly, when the West/Europe is not taken as a benchmark—as perhaps in the case of less formal regional arrangements, such as the Visegrad Group or the Nordic Council—other institutionalized and formalized contexts are framed as examples to imitate; ASEAN, for instance, has been a popular point of comparison.[43] In other words, “there is no need for regions such as Central Asia to reinvent the wheel” in founding a regional international organization.[44] Interestingly enough, and as some of the literature discussed above hints at, the Central Asian republics themselves decided to embark on a regionalist project based on ideas that spoke to the European experience of regionalism, such as supranational bodies and a common economic space, at the beginning of the 1990s Was their first regionalist project—the Central Asian Union (CAU), founded in 1994—a clear nod to the European Union, which had been created with the Maastricht Treaty a couple of years earlier, but it was supported by European personnel, advisers, and money. The question we are left with is: If regionalism has not taken off in Central Asia, what are we dealing with? I introduce the concept of order, which may be more pertinent and more appropriate to international relations within the region
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