A Comparative Analysis of the Activities of “5+1” Formats’ Launched in Central Asia with Participation of the US, Republic of Korea, Japan, and the EU

Central Asia as a region has become a subject of scientific research not so long ago. Complicated historic background that includes the long period of being a part of another states influenced rather seriously the feeling of subjectivity of the countries of the region. As a result, after the collapse of the USSR in 1991 a difficult period commenced when the countries of the region started to construct their own political and economic relations with foreign counterparts including their neighbors, regional and global powers. During this more then 25-years long period of independence countries of Central Asia have accumulated rich experience of interaction with the US, China, Russia, the EU, Japan, South Korea and other states interested in the region in terms of their own national interests.

Besides bilateral relations with Central Asian states some of these countries are trying now to develop multilateral formats of interaction with the region. Divergent national interests, peculiarities of socioeconomic and political development of Central Asian states inevitably influence their relations with other countries and the efficiency of multilateral formats. “5+1” dialogues with Central Asian states are being developed by the US, the EU, Japan and South Korea. These formats differ in their goals, mechanisms, areas of cooperation and give participants possibilities to realize different national interests.

The paper presents an analysis of these formats aiming to reveal the principal interested actors, preliminary results and possibilities for further development. The analysis could be helpful for strategic planning of Russia’s approaches to relation with Central Asian states.

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