The United States and Central Asia: In the Steppes to Stay?

Central Asia in US global strategy. The Central Asian republics proved crucial bases for military and intelligence operations. The South Caucasus, in turn, provided the only realistic air corridor for the deployment of Europe-based US forces to Afghan territory. As its Central Asian footprint grows, Washington must consider the interests of key Eurasian powers and demonstrate a sustained economic and political commitment to the region. Soon after the smoke cleared over the Pentagon and World Trade Center, it became clear that the United States would pursue military action in Afghanistan. That action substantially altered the importance in US military planning of the southern regions of the former Soviet Union. The South Caucasus and Central Asia appeared indispensable for the successful prosecution of war in the heart of Asia. The former Central Asian republics, in particular Uzbekistan, became crucial for the basing of troops, for intelligence and for humanitarian cooper-ation. The South Caucasus states, chiefly Georgia and Azerbaijan, were equally vital for logistical reasons: their airspace was the only realistic route through which military aircraft could be deployed from NATO territory to Afghanistan. By early 2002, the US had established two substantial military bases at Khanabad in southern Uzbekistan and at Manas near Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek. The US also initiated a train-and-equip programme for the Georgian military, effectively intervening to defuse a growing crisis between Tbilisi and Moscow over the Pankisi gorge along Georgia’s northern border with Chechnya