Central Asia’s Political and Security Relations and Interactions

Central Asia has re-emerged as a pivotal region in global politics, energy security, and great power rivalry. Comprising Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—the five “Stans”—the region occupies a strategic position at the intersection of Eurasian geopolitics, connecting China, Russia, Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia. This edited volume offers a comprehensive and analytically grounded examination of Central Asia’s foreign, economic, energy, and security relations with the outside world. Bringing together leading European and Russian scholars, the book explores how external actors—including China, Russia, the European Union, the United States, Japan, Turkey, and Iran—shape, and are shaped by, Central Asia’s evolving domestic politics and foreign policy choices. Particular attention is paid to the rapidly growing weight of China as the region’s primary trade and investment partner, its influence through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), and the implications for sovereignty, political alignment, and regional stability. While no not matching China's role in and influence on Central Asian trade and investment ties, Russia nonetheless remains a central political and security protagonist in the region. Russian policies and strategies towards the five 'Stans' are therefore examined in great detail in this volume. By combining country-specific case studies with thematic analyses of energy politics and regional cooperation, this book provides an essential resource for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners seeking to understand Central Asia’s internal dynamics and its place in a rapidly transforming international order.