Uzbekistan’s emergence as a responsible middle power discussed at ISRS
On August 26, the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan (ISRS) hosted a research and policy seminar titled “Uzbekistan as a Responsible Middle Power: Foreign Policy Transformation, Regional Responsibility and International Standing”, dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the Republic of Uzbekistan’s state independence.
The discussion centered on the analytical report “Uzbekistan as a Responsible Middle Power”, prepared by a team of ISRS authors. The report examines the evolution of the country’s foreign policy and the qualitative changes since independence, particularly over the past decade.
The discussion brought together representatives from government agencies, research and analytical centers, leading universities, and scholars and experts in international relations and foreign policy.
Opening the seminar, ISRS Director Eldor Aripov emphasized that over 35 years of independence, Uzbekistan had established itself as an independent and responsible actor in international relations, developed its own school of foreign policy, and fostered a culture of advancing national interests. In his assessment, the past decade in particular had brought a new quality to the country’s foreign policy. While preserving the fundamental principles of sovereignty, non-interference, the peaceful settlement of disputes, pragmatism, and mutual benefit, the country’s foreign policy had become considerably more open, proactive, and focused on creating a favorable external environment.
Eldor Aripov noted that the discussion was prompted by assessments from the international academic and expert community, which in recent years has increasingly identified features of a modern middle power in Uzbekistan’s policies. The task of ISRS was to examine, in substantive terms, the extent to which this analytical framework reflects the changes that have taken place.
Seminar participants noted that interest in the phenomenon of middle powers is naturally increasing amid growing polycentricity, intensifying strategic competition, and the fragmentation of the international system. Under these conditions, there is particular demand for states that can pursue an independent course, maintain constructive relations with various centers of power, and facilitate practical solutions to common challenges.
In this context, the international academic and expert community increasingly views Uzbekistan as an emerging middle power.
During the report presentation, ISRS First Deputy Director Akramjon Nematov noted that, in contemporary international practice, a middle power is defined less by a state’s size than by its ability to translate available resources into an independent and proactive foreign policy, regional responsibility, and tangible international outcomes.
According to Mr. Nematov, the analysis shows that Uzbekistan increasingly exhibits these qualities. First, this is evident in the independence and pragmatism of its foreign policy. Tashkent consistently builds constructive relations with Russia, China, the United States, the European Union, Türkiye, the Gulf states, South Asia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and other partners. This is not a policy of equidistance but an effort to broaden strategic options and avoid being drawn into confrontational dynamics among major centers of power.
Second, this is reflected in proactive diplomacy. As highlighted in the presentation, Uzbekistan is not only participating in the established international agenda but also proposing its own issues and mechanisms concerning Central Asia, Afghanistan, transport connectivity, climate, the Aral Sea region, interfaith dialogue, youth, and sustainable development. By August 2026, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) had adopted 15 special resolutions initiated by Uzbekistan. Nematov stressed that, for a middle power, what matters is not merely putting forward an initiative but uniting states with differing interests around it and translating the proposal into a practical international decision.
Third, the country’s foreign policy engagement is underpinned by its growing domestic resources: a dynamic economy, the largest demographic potential in Central Asia, a central geographic position, human capital, a substantial natural resource base, and expanding transport connectivity. Participants noted that the combination of political and diplomatic capabilities with material resilience provides the foundation for strategic autonomy and enables the country to broaden its choice of partners, markets, routes, and technologies.
Assessing the approach presented in the report, Professor Abdusamat Khaydarov, Director of the Diplomatic Academy at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan, emphasized the importance of continuity in the country’s foreign policy. In his view, the qualitative transformation of recent years has not displaced the fundamental principles of Uzbek diplomacy but has given them a more proactive form. This combination of sovereign decision-making, pragmatism, predictability, and the ability to maintain dialogue with various centers of power builds the state’s reputational capital and expands its diplomatic capabilities.
Central Asia occupied a prominent place in the discussion. As Sherzod Fayziev, Deputy Director of the International Institute for Central Asia, emphasized, a country’s own region provides the most rigorous test of any middle power’s maturity. There, one can see whether a state can translate its political and economic weight into trust, resilience, and public goods for its neighbors rather than pressure. In Uzbekistan's case, this is reflected in stronger good-neighborliness, the settlement of border issues, the restoration of transport links, increased trade, the search for compromises on water and energy, and the development of the region’s own dialogue mechanisms.
At the same time, participants emphasized as a matter of principle that Uzbekistan’s more active role should be viewed not as a redistribution of influence within Central Asia, but as an element in the growth of the region’s collective international agency.
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan are pursuing more proactive foreign policies and increasingly advancing region-wide interests. A space of shared responsibility is taking shape, in which the strengthening of each state enhances the resilience and international standing of the entire region.
As noted during the discussion, proactivity and a readiness to assume responsibility are becoming region-wide characteristics. The Central Asian states are not only strengthening cooperation within the region but also playing an increasingly active role in shaping the broader international agenda by advancing priorities that extend far beyond the region. Each state is developing its own profile of international influence, while their combined efforts reinforce the region’s agency as a whole.
Ravshan Alimov, Doctor of Sciences and Director of the Center for Afghanistan and South Asia Studies at the Institute for Advanced International Studies, noted that regional consolidation is creating new foreign policy opportunities for Central Asia. In his assessment, the transition from fragmented interactions to coordinated positions enables the region to act with greater agency in its relations with major external partners, promote connectivity with South Asia, and transform its central location into a practical resource for development. In this context, Uzbekistan’s initiatives on dialogue, transport corridors, and economic integration serve not only its national interests but also the broader objective of increasing Central Asia’s collective weight.
According to Ravshan Alimov, the growing international role of individual countries in the region must not lead to competition for political primacy. Instead, a model is emerging in which one state’s international achievements expand opportunities for Central Asia as a whole, strengthen its negotiating position, and make the region a more resilient and sought-after partner.
Participants cited the UNGA decisions of 20 May 2026 as a notable example of this new agency. The resolution titled “Strengthening Regional Cooperation and Economic Integration to Ensure Sustainable Development in the Central Asian Region”, presented by Uzbekistan on behalf of the five Central Asian states, attracted 66 co-sponsors. On the same day, the resolution titled “Peaceful Settlement of Border Disputes”, submitted by Kyrgyzstan in joint submission with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, was adopted with 40 co-sponsors. In the participants’ view, the first initiative reflects the region’s growing capacity to shape a shared development agenda, while the second demonstrates its ability to transform its experience in peacefully resolving complex issues into an approach of international relevance.
The very fact that the Central Asian states are jointly presenting their regional experience at the United Nations and building broad coalitions around it points to a qualitative change in the region’s international role. Central Asia is increasingly not only adapting to an externally shaped agenda but also shaping it. In this context, the growing recognition of Uzbekistan as an emerging middle power also reflects Central Asia’s increasing international weight as a whole.
The participants also discussed the global dimension of responsibility separately. According to the participants, Uzbekistan’s international influence is increasingly evident in two areas: its ability to shape the agenda and its capacity to provide platforms for dialogue. Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva, Fergana, and Termez host major multilateral events, while national and regional initiatives on the Aral Sea region, climate, transport connectivity, religious tolerance, and sustainable development receive support from the United Nations and other international institutions.
Participants emphasized that an important feature of Uzbekistan’s foreign policy remains its commitment to connecting rather than dividing, while preserving strategic autonomy, good-neighborship, and openness to engagement with various centers of power. This enables the country not only to benefit from a stable external environment but also to help shape it.
Concluding the discussion, Eldor Aripov stressed that the concept of a responsible middle power should be understood not as a title or privilege but primarily as a higher standard of responsibility. The growth of a state’s capabilities inevitably entails higher expectations regarding the quality of its diplomacy, economic and technological resilience, human capital, its ability to fulfill commitments, and its capacity to deliver practical results for its own region and the international community.
Participants agreed that the report presented does not offer a definitive determination of Uzbekistan’s status but rather opens a professional discussion. At the same time, the combination of external assessments, the transformation of the country’s foreign policy conduct, stronger regional responsibility, and expanding international proactivity points to an important trend: Uzbekistan is increasingly demonstrating a model of statehood that seeks to connect rather than divide, stabilize rather than exacerbate tensions, build trust, and create space for mutually beneficial cooperation.
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