Central Asia

Central Asia in U.S. Strategy and Operational Planning

By Jacquelyn K. Davis and Michael J. Sweeney
2004

The result of a year-long study effort, Central Asia in U.S. Strategy and Operational Planning: Where Do We Go from Here? dissects the key political and military factors at play in the U.S. relationship with the states of Central Asia and lays out a comprehensive approach for long-term U.S. involvement in the region. In the years since Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan opened their bases (and Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan opened their skies for overflight), the United States has essentially employed a “band aid” approach to both its military posture on the ground in Central Asia and its strategy toward the region more broadly. Such an ad hoc approach was both understandable and necessary in the wake of the stunning events of September 2001. Operation Enduring Freedom produced important initial successes in the war against terrorism by ousting the Taliban and dealing significant blows to the leadership and infrastructure of both Al Qaeda and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Nonetheless, it is increasingly apparent that a prolonged U.S. military presence will be required in Central Asia, even with the transition to NATO leadership of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). U.S. troops will likely be on the ground in Afghanistan itself and in supporting bases in Pakistan and the Central Asian states for at least the next few years to support stability and to continue the pursuit of Taliban and Al Qaeda leaders.

Ad hoc arrangements should therefore be reconsidered and a long-term plan developed for U.S. involvement in Central Asia, one that supports both military operational requirements in Central Asia and broader diplomatic strategy toward the region and its immediate neighbors. This monograph, undertaken with the generous support of the Smith Richardson Foundation, is an independent, outside effort by the Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis (IFPA) to enunciate the outlines of such a strategy and to explore those principal political and military factors that need to be taken into account while developing a plan for long-term U.S. involvement in Central Asia. It is intended that this study will serve as a point of departure for stimulating further debate – both inside government and among the private-sector community of academic and think-tank experts on Central Asia – on the specific steps the United States should take with respect to its military posture in the region and its relations with specific Central Asian states.

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