Fact Sheet

Factsheet: US Strategic Interests in Central Asia

By Kelvin Lum

aintaining economic and political security in Central Asia is important for both US energy and national security purposes.

A major US policy goal: foster the long-term development of democratic institutions and respect for human rights.
The United States has had a long-standing commitment to the region since the fall of the Soviet Union: Passage of the FREEDOM( Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets) Support Act 1992: created support for the development of markets and democratic institutions in Central Asia. Passage of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 1992 funded massive nuclear demobilization in Kazakhstan and elsewhere in the Former Soviet Union. Proposal of Silk Road Strategy Act of 1999 and 2006 further supported this desire for democratization.

This commitment become more significant following the US invasion of Afghanistan Annual Bilateral Consultations established in 2010 with each of the regional states Reorganization of US State Dept. moved policy responsibility to the Bureau of South Asian Affairs (now the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs) Manas Transit Center outside of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan has contributed nearly $1.4 billion to the Kyrgyz economy. Development of the Northern Distribution Network: overland supply network of non-lethal supplies from Europe to Afghanistan.

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However, the Central Asia states rank poorly on both human rights and democratization measures All but Tajikistan were listed as not free according to the Freedom House measure of political and civil freedoms (Tajikistan was listed as partly free). None of the Central Asian states was listed as being electoral democracies on the same measure

Economic Security June 2004 TIFA signed with the Central Asian states to create a US-Central Asia Council on Trade and Investment, to address intellectual property, labor, environmental protection, and other issues that impede trade and private investment flows between the United States and Central Asia. Energy Security Large amount of natural gas reserves in the region: 405 trillion cubic feet located in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan is a major global source of oil.

Resources
Freedom for Russia and Emerging Eurasian Democracies and Open Markets Support Act of 1992 http:// thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d102:HR04547:@@@L&summ2=m& Joshua Foust, No Great Game: The Story of Post-Cold War Powers in Central Asia, The Atlantic, 16 December 2011, http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/12/no-great-game-the-story-of-postcold-war-powers-in-central-asia/250010/

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