Regional security and the Afghanistan question

After the attacks of 11 September 2001 the international community’s attention to Afghanistan grew, because instability in the region involved threats such as terrorism, drug trafficking and migration. Uzbekistan’s Foreign Policy Concept approved in 2012 rests on principles of not joining military blocs, not hosting foreign military bases and having Central Asian issues resolved first of all by the states of the region themselves. In September 2017 the UN General Assembly was told that peace in Afghanistan must be reached through political dialogue with the participation of the parties inside the country; an international conference on Central Asia was held in Samarkand on 10–11 November 2017, and on 26–27 March 2018 the conference “Peace Process, Security Cooperation and Regional Partnership” took place in Tashkent, where the Tashkent Declaration was adopted. In 2017 an education centre for training Afghan citizens was set up in Termez. Since August 2021 the Taliban movement has taken control of power in Afghanistan; states’ attitudes to it vary, and the question of recognition depends on each government’s decision. Uzbekistan, like other neighbours, prefers to keep up practical contacts – trade, transit corridors, humanitarian aid and security; different analysts assess this approach differently: some hold that it serves stability, others voice concern about human-rights issues, especially the education of women and girls.