US policy in central Asia is aimed at bolstering the region’s sovereignty and independence and fostering co-operation on security, energy, and internal reform. While acknowledging important American interests, the US government rejects the notion that the region can be confined to any one “special sphere of influence”, as Russia has recently claimed.
On security, Kazakhstan in particular has been an important partner on nuclear non-proliferation issues, after giving up its nuclear arsenal in the early 1990s. After 9/11, Uzbekistan emerged as a critical ally, with its military bases essential to the success of the initial operation in Afghanistan. However, US-Uzbek relations nearly came to a halt following events in Andizhan in 2005 in which hundreds of Uzbeks died when law enforcers crushed an armed uprising blamed on Islamist rebels.
