Multivectorality of the Central Asian states in the new geopolitical reality

Аннотация

Phenomenon of the multi vector foreign policy conducted by five Central Asian states Kazakhstan,
Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan emerged soon after the collapse of the Soviet Union
as a response to plurality of possible directions for development of Central Asia, which for a long historical
period served as a bridge connecting South and East Asia with Europe and the Middle East. The
geopolitical and geostrategic position of Central Asia was the main factor for involvement of leading
world actors in the region. In this conditions adoption of multi vector foreign policy, which suggests
development of the progressive and balanced relations with the existing centers of power was the only
possible variant for Central Asian states to strengthen their sovereignty and independence, gain an impulse
for wide range of domestic reforms and invite investments for further development. Despite the
fact that since 1991 have passed more than 25 years and the geopolitical system of relations in Central
Asia has radically changed, the elites of the Central Asian republics realize that maintaining the multivector
foreign policy in the format it was established in the period since independence has become a
difficult task under current conditions. Reduction of the US presence in the region, ongoing crisis in
Ukraine and China’s activation in Central Asian direction transform the geopolitical system of relations
in Central Asia, which loses its flexibility and impedes the effective implementation of a multi-vector foreign
policy. However, the weakening of some vectors and the parallel strengthening of others does not
mean their complete disappearance from the foreign policy palette and the refusal of the Central Asian
states to develop relations with each of the vectors, maintaining multivectorality.
Key words: Central Asia, Russia, China, The USA, geopolitics, multi vector foreign policy, narrowing
of space, balancing, the Ukranian crisis, the Silk Road Economic Belt