Military-political Cooperation between the U.S. and Central Asian States

Abstract

Central Asian region became one of the important regions in international relations. The states of the region faced a number of problems after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The geopolitical situation and neighborhood with great powers mainly affected on the policymaking and the security issues of newly independent states. In this article the military-political cooperation between the U.S. and Central Asian states in different dimensions is examined. First of all, we analyze the dynamic of military-political cooperation of the U.S. with each state of the region in the context of regional security. In this regard it is examined one of the important issues – the interests of the U.S. around the Soviet nuclear weapons located on the Kazakhstani territory. The author analyzes the relations between states in the context of struggle against terrorism. After the events of September 11 the U.S. proclaimed a war against terrorism. The struggle against terrorism became one of the major challenges of the U.S. foreign policy. Afghanistan became a state number one for antiterrorist drive. The Central Asian states mentioned as a “front-line states”. Region's location on the crossroads between West and East makes this territory significant for transit routes. The cooperation in military-political field between states develops also on a structural level. We consider the relations in this field between the U.S. and Central Asian states in the framework of NATO. The author of this article discusses how the above-mentioned issues influence on international relations in the region.