The Central Asian region has historically been characterized as a strategic arena of competition, a battleground for geopolitical influence among global actors. This perception, inherited from the Great Game literature of the 19th century, has long kept the region’s states in a passive role, responding to the moves of global powers. However, current data and diplomatic trends indicate that the region is evolving from this reactive position to a proactive subject. The proposal for a Central Asian Community, voiced by Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Tashkent on November 16, 2025, is the most concrete institutional manifestation of this evolution. This proposal represents the region’s quest to define its own strategic compass within the global system.
The radical shift in Uzbekistan’s foreign policy vision is considered a key driving force behind regional integration. The Islam Karimov era (1991-2016) was largely shaped by a reflex to consolidate state sovereignty and protect newly acquired independence from external interference. During this period, foreign policy was characterized by strict border controls, limited trade interaction, and a distanced isolationism towards regional alliances. Water sharing and border disputes with neighboring states weakened the basis for cooperation; Uzbekistan’s reactive stance led to stagnation in the region as a whole.
The reform process initiated under Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s leadership in 2016 brought with it a new doctrine built on the principle of neighbor-focused pragmatism. This new approach defines regional stability as an indispensable condition for Uzbekistan’s national development. Tashkent’s initiation of direct bilateral negotiations to resolve border disputes, the easing of visa regimes, and its leadership in energy swap agreements have helped re-establish a climate of trust that had long been lacking in the region. In the current conjuncture, Uzbekistan assumes the role of a center for resolving regional problems and a guarantor of stability. This transformation has removed the psychological and political barriers preventing Central Asia from acting as a collective force.
The fundamental strategic goal of the Central Asian Community proposal is to maximize the bargaining power of the region’s countries against major global actors, thereby achieving strategic autonomy. Field research and expert surveys confirm that regional elites are seeking a balance between Russia-centric structures such as the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) or the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and China’s growing economic presence. Rather than being a direct competitor to these externally oriented blocs, the Central Asian Community would function as a platform where the region protects its own interests and negotiates with external actors on a more level playing field. This symbolizes the region’s determination to move from being a partisan in global power competition to becoming an independent bloc prioritizing its own interests.
The most advanced stage of regional integration is the security community model conceptualized by Karl Deutsch. This model implies a consensus among member states to resolve their problems non-violently and to eliminate the possibility of armed conflict against each other. The comprehensive border agreement reached between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in March 2025 is the most critical turning point in the realization of this theoretical framework specifically in Central Asia. The resolution of this dispute, which has caused loss of life for years, without the need for active arbitration by Moscow or other external actors, demonstrates the increased level of political maturity in the region.
The Central Asian Intelligence and Security Services Heads Meeting, held in April 2025, demonstrated that cooperation has deepened not only at the political level but also at the technical and operational levels. The joint strategic framework developed in the face of shared risks such as uncertainties in Afghanistan, cross-border radicalization, and cybersecurity threats reflects the region’s will to build its own security architecture. Such concrete steps strengthen the region’s institutional resilience and create collective resilience against externally sourced hybrid threats. This synchronization in the security field solidifies the fundamental trust necessary for the sustainability of economic and political integration.
The new wave of integration in Central Asia is based on rational and pragmatic economic benefits rather than abstract political rhetoric. Expert analyses emphasize that the success of integration will largely be measured by concrete projects such as the merging of transportation corridors and the integration of energy grids. The region aims to make energy security a collective priority by pooling its vast hydrocarbon and renewable energy resources.
The Middle Corridor (Trans-Caspian International Transport Route), in particular, has the potential to change the geopolitical destiny of the region. Its strategic importance has increased following the risky situation of the Northern Corridor after the Russo-Ukrainian War, making Central Asia an indispensable transit hub in trade flows between China and Europe. This integration move allows the region to break free from its landlocked position and gain direct access to global markets. This pragmatic focus on economic integration pushes political differences into the background, uniting states on a common ground of prosperity. Furthermore, micro-level cooperation areas such as agricultural-industrial partnerships and customs unions support the spread and permanence of integration at the societal level.
Uzbekistan’s 2026 vision represents a flexible, multi-layered, and project-based cooperation model. This structure allows each state to protect its own foreign policy priorities and sovereign rights, while increasing its ability to act in a synchronized manner when regional interests are at stake. This model, described as the Third Way, does not transform the region into the exclusive sphere of influence of the West, Russia, or China. Rather, it aims to establish a balanced yet autonomous relationship with all global actors.
Ultimately, the steps taken since 2025 have prepared the necessary institutional and psychological groundwork for Central Asia to position itself as an independent and influential actor on the global geopolitical stage. This integration model, proposed under the leadership of Uzbekistan, is accelerating the region’s transformation into a proactive power center that determines its own strategic destiny, rejecting its historically assigned role as as an arena of competition. This change offers a paradigm of sustainable stability and development for Central Asia in this critical period of redefining global geopolitical balances.
