Uzbekistan: The New Center of Gravity in Central Asia

Blanka Benkő-Kovács

Founder - Political Advisor, International Security and Defence Policy Expert

For decades, Kazakhstan has dominated discussions about Central Asia. Its vast territory, abundant natural resources and strategic location have made it the region's most recognizable state. Yet while much of the world's attention remained fixed on Kazakhstan's oil fields, another country quietly began transforming itself. Increasingly, the future political and economic center of gravity of Central Asia may lie several hundred kilometers to the south – in Uzbekistan. Unlike Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan's greatest strategic asset is not energy. It is people.