‘Multi-Vectoral’ Central Asia: On the Other Side of Major Power Agendas
abstract
In a period of fast-evolving international dynamics over the Central Asian region, it is important to consider the foreign policy choices and exercised agency by the governments of the five states of the region. While the projects and agendas of China, Russia, the United States and other external players over the region have understandably dominated much recent discourse, the ‘inside-out’ perspective – the Central Asian policies and stances toward international affairs and geopolitics involving them – is necessary to draw a more accurate picture of the region’s international affairs. Such a perspective would reveal the evolution and variations of the regional foreign policies of ‘multi-vectorism’ and challenges such policies face today.
Keywords: ‘Inside-out’ perspective • Multi-vectorism • Agency • Central Asia • BRI