The Central Role of Uzbekistan on Renewing Central Asia

Fourth, the trend towards regional rapprochement was positively assessed and supported by the world community. In June 2018, the UN General Assembly adopted a special resolution "Strengthening regional and international cooperation to ensure peace, stability and sustainable development in the Central Asian region", which became one of the important guidelines that determine the conceptual vectors of regional cooperation.

The adoption of this document is the implementation of the initiative of the President of Uzbekistan announced at the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly (September 2017). 

According to the UN Secretary General's Special Representative N. Herman, the resolution made a significant contribution to strengthening trust between the countries of the region, becoming a truly historic document representing a common vision for the sustainable development of Central Asian countries. 

In addition, the document emphasizes the importance of deepening bilateral and regional cooperation in the integrated rational use of water and energy resources, the implementation of transport and transit potential, the development of tourism and cultural and humanitarian interaction.

External partners gradually developed an understanding that stimulating regional interaction opens up new opportunities for the implementation of promising projects in Central Asia.

This is confirmed by the intensification of the regional approach in building relationships of other actors with the countries of the region. According to B. Yaroshevich, Head of the Central Asia Unit of the European External Relations Service, the European Union, having recognized the new dynamics of regional cooperation in Central Asia, has actively restructured its foreign policy taking into account the new realities in the region. As a result, in June 2019, the European Union adopted a new strategy for Central Asia.

According to experts, the adoption of the new EU Strategy for Central Asia and the Strategy for the Development of Interconnectedness between Europe and Asia testifies to the firm intention of the European Union to move to the practical implementation of the existing potential of mutually beneficial multilateral cooperation both in Central Asia and between the EU and the CA region. 

According to the estimates of the authorized representative of the Foundation. K. Adenauer on Central Asia R. Heine, the key role in strengthening these trends is played by the regional rapprochement of the Central Asian states and the improvement of the general climate of political relations in the region.

In February 2020, the United States for the first time adopted a separate Strategy for the Central Asian region "Strengthening Sovereignty and Economic Prosperity". 

One of the most important elements of the newly adopted strategy is the fact that "support and strengthening of the sovereignty and independence of the Central Asian states, both individually and within the entire region," is defined as a political goal. According to analysts, Washington recognizes the formation of a new environment in Central Asia - a regional one - with such a statement.

According to R. Hoagland, a member of the Board of Trustees of the Caspian Political Center, the new strategy includes subtle changes in American policy that take into account the current realities of the development of the situation in this strategically important region of the world.