Challenges and Prospects for Turkmenistan’s Engagement with the US and EU

Abstract

In this article, the author focuses on the potential, prospects and challenges of Turkmenistan’s relations with the US and the EU. He analyses the key factors that have shaped the interest of these global actors in the former Soviet republic following its independence. The struggle for 'resource accumulation’, control over natural resources and important transport corridors has determined the priorities of global powers and geopolitical alliances. Geopolitical and geoeconomic factors have determined the keen interest of both the US and the EU in developing relations with Central Asian states such as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, while the value of Turkmenistan’s potential was not immediately apparent to western governments. The study shows that as a Caspian Sea country, Turkmenistan's international subjectivity has increased significantly on account of the main factors determining its foreign policy, namely its neutral status and its focus on energy exports. Differences of political culture and civilisational codes between the sides also played an important role, making the development of relations between the US and the EU, on the one hand, and Turkmenistan, on the other, considerably more difficult.