Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 10
By Elena Kosolapova – Trend:
There will be no major change in political relations between the US and the Central Asia in connection with election of Donald Trump as the US president, but expansion of economic cooperation is possible, Andrey Chebotarev, director of the Kazakhstan-based research center Alternative, told Trend by telephone Nov. 10.
“Trump, as an entrepreneur, will possibly pay more attention to the economic issues and promote the US economic interests, in Kazakhstan as well, where the US corporations Chevron, ExxonMobil operate,” Chebotarev said.
The US, both under the Republicans and the Democrats, has certain interest in Central Asia, but expansion of the US presence in the region is not expected, according to him.
“The US under the Democrats - Barack Obama - started withdrawing from Afghanistan and reducing their presence in the region as a whole. I think this policy will be continued," Chebotarev said.
In the political sphere, the bilateral relations format between the US and each of the Central Asian countries, as well as the 5+1 format (the five Central Asian countries and the US) are already developed, and they are not likely to undergo any changes, the expert believes.
He said the leadership is being changed not only in the US but also in Uzbekistan.
“A snap presidential election will be held in Uzbekistan in early December in connection with the death of first Uzbek President Islam Karimov,” he said. “This can somehow affect the relations between the US and Uzbekistan.”
The expert said the US-Kazakhstan relations will be affected by the Washington-Moscow relations.
“Trump seems to treat Russia with more restraint,” he added. “The sanctions [on Russia] are unlikely to change or toughen.”
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