Anis H. Bajrektarevic is a Professor and a Chairperson for International Law and Global

INTERESTS & INFLUENCES OF MAJOR EXTERNAL ACTORS IN CENTRAL ASIA
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Subsequently, the U.S. foreign policy was ad-
justed to meet the new conditions in the region
and the U.S. signed a series of military treaties
and defense agreements with the Central Asian
countries. The U.S., by doing so, took advantage
of the countries’ locations near its new battle-
ground of Afghanistan using Kyrgyzstan’s
Manas International Airport (Ganci Airbase and
also known as the Manas Transit Center) for lo-
gistics and a transit hub and the Karshi-Khan-
abad Airbase in Uzbekistan. 
For the U.S., stability in the Central Asian includ-
ing economic development and human assis-
tance to support Central Asia is important to
prevent Russia, China, Iran and other from un-
dermining the U.S. influence in the country.
Also proper development of the social and
physical infrastructures of the Central Asian
states would ensure smooth operations for U.S.
operations out of Uzbek and Kyrgyz Airbases re-
spectively and would reduce the possibility of
large-scale violence called by the instability and
elements of terrorism in the Central Asian
states. Simply, the U.S. presence acted as a de-
terrent.
U.S. investment in the Central Asian region is
much greater than in Russia and many other
Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)
countries except Azerbaijan. The U.S. signed
with all five Central Asian republics trade agree-
ments that focus on investment links and
strong trade as “merging Central Asian
economies constitute growing markets for U.S.
exports and services and strategic destinations 
for investment in sectors such as oil/gas, min-
ing, manufacturing, and food processing.”[131]
The U.S. has many agreements in already exist-
ing including bilateral investment trade agree-
ments with Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, and in
2004 a Trade and Investment Framework Agree-
ment (TIFA) was signed “to encourage and facil-
itate the exchange of goods and services to
secure favorable conditions for long-term de-
velopment and diversification of trade between
and amongst the Parties.”[132] Accession into
the World Trade Organization also remains a pri-
ority between the U.S. and the Central Asian
states. 
Furthermore, the U.S. has invested in multiple
developments in the Central Asian region.
Within the early 1990s, aid and assistance pro-
grams to supported the development of politi-
cal systems, economy and the civil society
(including Open Society Foundations and Radio
Free Europe Radio Liberty news services), mili-
tary assistance was developed. 
The Central Asian militaries received training
from the U.S. military and the possibility to at-
tend military and language schools in the U.S.,
under the frame of the International Military
and Education and Training (IMET). According
to the U.S. Department of State, IMET “facilitates
the development of important professional and
personal relationships, which have proven to
provide U.S. access and influence in a critical
sector of society that often plays a pivotal role
in supporting, or transitioning to, democratic
governments.”[133]