Commentary
It was almost as if, by July 2023, the great opening had never occurred between “the West” and the states of Central Asia after they were freed in 1991 from a century of Soviet and Russian Empire domination.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Kazakhstan's President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyzstan's President Sadyr Japarov, Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmenistan's President Serdar Berdymukhamedov, and Uzbekistan's President Shavkat Mirziyoyev pose for a group photo during the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian, in China's northern Shaanxi Province, on May 19, 2023. Florence Lo/Pool/AFP via Getty Images
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Gregory Copley
Author
Gregory Copley is president of the Washington-based International Strategic Studies Association and editor-in-chief of the “Defense & Foreign Affairs” series of publications. Born in Australia, Copley is an entrepreneur, writer, government adviser, defense publication editor, and Member of the Order of Australia. His latest and 37th book is “The Noble State: Governance Options in an Ignoble Era.”
