In September 2002, the Smith Richardson Foundation funded a study proposed by IFPA to examine the military and operational requirements that can be anticipated to drive U.S. security planning for operations in Central Asia and adjacent regions over the next ten to twenty years. The attacks of September 11 brought home the enhanced importance of Central Asia to U.S. security planning, while also underscoring the potential dangers emanating from the region. Countries unknown to the majority of the American public suddenly became frontline partners in responding to the worst terrorist attacks ever on U.S. soil. At the same time, though, equally unknown groups, such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), emerged as partners of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. This sudden increase in prominence has added impetus to the formulation of a holistic strategy on the part of the United States for dealing with the five so-called Stans – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
Missing from post-September 11 analyses of the region and U.S. policy toward it, in IFPA's view, is a serious assessment of the specific demands for U.S. basing and access to regional facilities over the mid-to-long term and how they relate to other elements that the United States must weigh in its relationships with each of the individual Stans. With this in mind, the Institute undertook an examination of the military and operational requirements that can be anticipated to drive U.S. security planning for operations in Central Asia and adjacent regions over the next ten to twenty years. The study's goal was to identify a matrix of basing and access needs that could inform policy makers and outside experts on those military requirements that will need to be balanced with other concerns as U.S. policy toward Central Asia continues to develop.
The principal product from this study effort was a monograph-length study,Central Asia in U.S. Strategy and Operational Planning: Where Do We Go From Here? including chapters on the security challenges and regional threats to stability; long-term U.S. strategic interests and goals in Central Asia; matching military tools with U.S. strategic objectives in Central Asia; potential scenarios for enhancing U.S. military presence in Central Asia; infrastructure and access; and ways to mesh U.S. military requirements with other policy priorities in Central Asia.
© The Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis,
Inc. - All rights reserved
webmaster