scholarly journals Transformation of Uzbekistan’s Approaches to Afghanistan after 2016

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 781-790
Author(s):  
Stanislav Aleksamdrovish Pritchin

With its key geostrategic position in the center of the Eurasian continent, Uzbekistan has a prominent impact on the nature of the development of interregional relations in Central Asia. After the transit of power in the republic that took place in 2016, a gradual transformation of Uzbekistans foreign policy model was carried out - from a closed and isolated to a proactive one. This led to several major changes - there was a significant improvement in both the nature of cooperation and the regional dialogue between the countries of Central Asia. The author analyzes the changes in Uzbekistans foreign policy in the Afghan direction, their reasons and the impact they had on the position of the republic both in the Central Asian region and in the international arena. This is especially relevant given both the importance of Afghanistan and Uzbekistan as partners for each other and the degree of threats posed by the difficult internal political situation in Afghanistan and holding back their bilateral interaction. As a methodological basis for the study, we used a systematic and comparative analysis of Uzbekistans approaches to solving security issues through the implementation of its foreign policy towards Afghanistan until 2016 and after. They also considered both internal factors influencing the formation of Uzbek approaches to the southern neighbor, and external ones. The theory of political realism was used as a theoretical basis for the study. The change of power in Uzbekistan in 2016 marked a radical revision of Tashkents approaches to the Afghan vector of its foreign policy. Uzbekistan has begun to implement a strategy to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan through the pragmatic development of economic cooperation and support for a peaceful inter-Afghan dialogue, abandoning a rigid isolation policy towards its southern neighbor. At the same time, the main emphasis in mediation activities was placed on formats that were supported by the United States. Thus, today, thanks to the revitalization of its Afghan agenda, Uzbekistan is actively increasing its authority in the international arena as an important regional player for Afghan regulation.

Author(s):  
Yu. Latysh

The article deals with the impact of disputes of leaders of the USSR over the visit of US President R. Nixon to the fall of the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine P. Shelest. The article was published in the ‘Washington Post’ by D. Anderson, which based on the CIA's secret materials contained information about the conflict between L. Brezhnev and P. Shelest regarding R. Nixon's visit and the support of General Secretary by V. Shcherbytsky, are analyzing. P. Shelest's position in the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee on the politics of Détente, R. Nixon's visit and his assessment of the foreign policy of L. Brezhnev is revealed. The positions of other members of the Politburo have been covered. The reasons and circumstances of the increasing influence of L. Brezhnev on the foreign policy of the USSR and the defeat of the supporters of the hard course and the class approach were found out. The role of the international factor in ending the political career of P. Shelest and ascending to the top of the political Olympus of the USSR V. Shcherbytsky was investigated. As a result of the study, it became known that P. Shelest was an conservator in the foreign policy of the USSR, demanded the suppression of the “Prague Spring”, was skeptical of the Détente and attempts of L. Brezhnev to establish personal contacts with Western leaders. The brutal bombing of North Vietnam and the death of Soviet citizens were a good reason for P. Shelest and N. Podgorny to endure R. Nixon's visit. P. Shelest's removal was due to internal reasons: his independence position, desire for economic autonomy, insufficiently decisive struggle with dissidents, complaints of other Ukrainian leaders. However, the sudden replacement of the leader of the republic on the eve of the arrival of the President of the United States in Kiev may have been caused by P. Shelest's position regarding Détente and visit of R. Nixon.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-31
Author(s):  
Elena G. Garbuzarova

The article examines the use of “soft power” tools used by Iran in relation to Kyrgyzstan. The analysis of the evolving fundamental concepts of Iranian foreign policy in Central Asia allowed us to trace a shift in the Islamic Republic’s international priorities in the region. Objective logic prompted the Iranian leadership to move from “exporting the Islamic revolution” to the pragmatic model of pursuing its national interests. Iran has consecutively incorporated soft power tools into its foreign policy activities in Central Asia. Given the pressure from the sanctions imposed by the United States, Iran attaches particular importance to improving the effectiveness of its soft power in order to expand cooperation horizons with the outside world. By the end of the 20th century, Iran’s leadership had already laid the foundations of its cultural diplomacy in the region, which mainly served to promote influence through the export of cultural values. The Iranian approach to soft power in world politics is based on the principles of reciprocity between different civilizations and peaceful coexistence of all countries and peoples. Through the Persian language, philosophy, literature and poetry, Iran influences the population of the Central Asian region, mainly the peoples sharing certain features with the Turkic-speaking world. Iran’s cultural and educational activities in Kyrgyzstan have demonstrated noticeable dynamics: the spread of soft power of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Kyrgyzstan is carried out through cultural institutions and educational projects. Despite the fact that Kyrgyzstan is culturally more inclined towards the Turkic world, the experience shows that Iran’s cultural values also find support among the population of the republic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (10-3) ◽  
pp. 228-237
Author(s):  
Marina Shpakovskaya ◽  
Oleg Barnashov ◽  
Arian Mohammad Hassan Shershah ◽  
Asadullah Noori ◽  
Mosa Ziauddin Ahmad

The article discusses the features and main approaches of Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East. Particular attention is paid to the history of the development of Turkish-American relations. The causes of the contradictions between Turkey and the United States on the security issues of the Middle East region are analyzed. At the same time, the commonality of the approaches of both countries in countering radical terrorism in the territories adjacent to Turkey is noted. The article also discusses the priority areas of Turkish foreign policy, new approaches and technologies in the first decade of the XXI century.


Author(s):  
Yernar Zh Akimbayev ◽  
Zhumabek Kh Akhmetov ◽  
Murat S Kuanyshbaev ◽  
Arman T Abdykalykov ◽  
Rashid V Ibrayev

Studying the historical facts of past wars and armed conflicts and natural and man-made emergencies, today in the Republic of Kazakhstan one of the most important security issues is the preparation and organization of the evacuation of the population from possible dangerous zones, taking into account the emergence of new threats to the country’s security. The paper presents an algorithm for constructing universal scales of the distribution function of opportunities by types of support and rebuilding them into subject scales using display functions. The purpose of the paper is to determine the integral indicators characterizing the possibility of accommodation of the evacuated population and the impact on resources during relocation. On the subject scales of cities and districts of the region, indicators of the possibility of relocation of a certain amount of the evacuated population by types of support and indicators characterizing the impact on the district’s resources during resettlement of a certain amount of the evacuated population are determined. It was concluded that the use of integrated indicators allows the selection of areas to accommodate the evacuated population without the use of statistical data, in conditions of incomplete and inaccurate information. The presented method does not replace traditional methods based on classical methods of territory assessment by the level of life sustenance, but also allows their reasonable combination with the experience of specialists in this field, taking into account the incompleteness, uncertainty, and inconsistency of the initial data of the study area, which does not allow the application of existing methods.


Author(s):  
A. Borisova

The last five years defined an alternative course in the US foreign policy. Obama's reelection caused staff transfers which notably influenced the course. This comprehensive process is based on tremendous work conducted by the Administration of Barak Obama, in particular by John Kerry, who was appointed as a Secretary of State in 2013. His personality plays a significant role in American domestic and foreign policy interrelation. Adoption or rejection of the bills, which are well-known today, depended in large on a range of circumstances, such as personality, life journey and political leader career of the today's Secretary of State. John Kerry’s professional life is mainly associated with domestic policy; nevertheless, he has always been interested in foreign relations and national security issues. Those concerns generally included: non-proliferation, US security, ecological problems, fight against terrorism. The article is intended to highlight Kerry’s efforts in each of these fields, showing not only his actions, but also difficult process of adoption or banning bills in the USA. The author tried to display the whole complicated decision-making process among different parties, businessmen and politicians, law and money clashes. The results of many former endeavors can be seen today, in the modern US policy. Based on assumptions about Secretary of State’s beliefs, certain road map can be predicted. In conclusion, the article offers several courses, where the United States are likely to be most active during the next few years. It can be judged exactly which way some current political issues will develop, how the US foreign policy will be shaped by today's decision-makers in the White House.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 170-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin O. Fordham

Between 1890 and 1914, the United States acquired overseas colonies, built a battleship fleet, and intervened increasingly often in Latin America and East Asia. This activism is often seen as the precursor to the country's role as a superpower after 1945 but actually served very different goals. In contrast to its pursuit of a relatively liberal international economic order after 1945, the United States remained committed to trade protection before 1914. Protectionism had several important consequences for American foreign policy on both economic and security issues. It led to a focus on less developed areas of the world that would not export manufactured goods to the United States instead of on wealthier European markets. It limited the tactics available for promoting American exports, forcing policymakers to seek exclusive bilateral agreements or unilateral concessions from trading partners instead of multilateral arrangements. It inhibited political cooperation with other major powers and implied an aggressive posture toward these states. The differences between this foreign policy and the one the United States adopted after 1945 underscore the critical importance not just of the search for overseas markets but also of efforts to protect the domestic market.


Author(s):  
Kanat Kakar ◽  

In 2013, China's Silk Road Initiative, the One Belt One Road project, was first mentioned in Kazakhstan and has been widely discussed by major countries and international organizations. Kazakhstan's participation in this project, a resource-rich country in Central Asia, has attracted world attention, and the impact of external forces on Central Asia will have its own impact on the implementation of this project. The interests of countries such as Russia and the United States in Central Asia and the views of international organizations are important factors in the implementation of this project. This article examines the relations between China and Kazakhstan in the framework of the "One Belt - One Road" initiative and the competition of external forces influencing it, their views on the project, their interests, the project and competing projects, and highlights important international organizations and agreements. and the toothed conclusion is pronounced.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-81
Author(s):  
E. V. Kryzhko ◽  
P. I. Pashkovsky

The article examines the features of the US foreign policy towards the Central Asian states in the post-bipolar period. The imperatives and constants, as well as the transformation of Washington’s Central Asian policy, have been characterized. It is shown that five Central Asian states have been in the focus of American foreign policy over the past thirty years. In the process of shaping the US foreign policy in Central Asia, the presence of significant reserves of energy and mineral resources in the region was of great importance. Therefore, rivalry for Caspian energy resources and their transportation routes came to the fore. In addition to diversifying transport and logistics flows and supporting American companies, the US energy policy in Central Asia was aimed at preventing the restoration of Russia’s economic and political influence, as well as countering the penetration of China, which is interested in economic cooperation with the countries of the region. During the period under review, the following transformation of mechanisms and means of Washington’s policy in the Central Asian direction was observed: the policy of “exporting democracy”; attempts to “nurture” the pro-American elite; striving to divide states into separate groups with permanent “appointment” of leaders; involvement in a unified military system to combat terrorism; impact on the consciousness of the population in order to destabilize geopolitical rivals; building cooperation on a pragmatic basis due to internal difficulties and external constraints. Central Asian states sympathized with the American course because of their interest in technology and investment. At the same time, these states in every possible way distanced themselves from the impulses of “democratization” from Washington. Kazakhstan was a permanent regional ally of the United States, to which Uzbekistan was striving to join. The second echelon in relations with the American side was occupied by Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. A feature of the positions of the Central Asian countries is the maximum benefit from cooperation with Washington while building good-neighborly relations with Russia and China, which is in dissonance with the regional imperatives of the United States. In the future, the American strategy in Central Asia will presumably proceed from the expediency of attracting regional allies and stimulating contradictions in order to contain geopolitical rivals in the region.


1982 ◽  
Vol 12 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 11-18
Author(s):  
Deborah Toler

No one is happy with the Reagan Administration’s southern Africa foreign policy strategy known as constructive engagement. Liberals object to the tilt towards South Africa, to the linkage of Cuban troop withdrawal from Angola to the Namibian negotiations; to the resulting moribund state of those negotiations; and to the deemphasis of human rights and development issues in favor of increased emphasis on military and security issues. Conservatives object to economic assistance packages for African socialist and self-styled states; to the declining U.S. support of Jonas Savimbi’s ostensibly pro-Western UNITA forces in Angola; to Administration efforts to improve relations between the United States and the Marxist states of Angola and Mozambique; and to the Administration’s apparent willingness to accept a SWAPO (i.e., communist guerrilla) outcome in Namibia.


2015 ◽  
Vol 59 (11) ◽  
pp. 31-37
Author(s):  
N. Arbatova

The Euro-Atlantic relations after the end of the Cold war have been strongly influenced by the impact of three interrelated crises: the existential crisis of NATO, the world economic and financial crisis, and the crisis in the Russia-West relations. The end of bipolarity has changed the threat environment and revealed how different alliance members formulate their threat perception and foreign policy interests. Europe stopped to be the US foreign policy priority. The US pivot to Asia has raised European concerns about American commitments to collective defense. The removal of the threat of a global conflict resulted in the EU initiatives aimed at promoting integration in the field of common security and defense policy (CSDP). Even though the US has officially welcomed a stronger European pillar in NATO, it has become concerned about new approaches that could divide transatlantic partnership and take resources away from military cooperation. At the same time the unilateralist preferences of the Bush administration generated deep political divisions between the United States and the European Union. The world economic and financial crisis contributed to a dangerous gulf between American and European defense spending. The US has complained about the tendency of the alliance’s European members to skimp on defense spending and take advantage of America’s security shield to free ride. In the absence of a clear external threat NATO tried to draft new missions, which were found in NATO’s expansion to the post-Communist space and Alliance’s out of area operations. But these new missions could not answer the main question about NATO’s post-bipolar identity. Moreover, the Kosovo operation of NATO in 1999 fueled Russia’s concerns about NATO’s intentions in the post-Soviet space. The creeping crisis in the Russia-West relations resulted in the Caucasus and Ukrainian conflicts that provided kind of glue to transatlantic relations but did not return them to the old pattern. There can be several representing possible futures lying ahead. But under any scenario EU will be faced with a necessity to shoulder more of the burden of their own security.


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