German Central Asia policy after the "Zeitenwende": challenges and opportunities for a strategic partnership

Abstract

Russia's war against Ukraine and the geopolitical shifts on the Eurasian continent have brought Central Asia back into the focus of Germany and the EU. Germany's strategic regional partnership with Central Asia, which was announced last autumn, offers promising potential for cooperation. However, deepening sectoral cooperation is associated with challenges that require a realistic assessment of the individual areas of engagement. Precise context analyses are essential to avoid misperceptions and false expectations. Germany's involvement should be long-term and primarily aim to strengthen the crisis resilience of the Central Asian countries. A key pre­requisite for this is support for intra-regional cooperation, particularly in logistics, electricity infrastructure and water management. (author's abstract)