The Strategic Case for the Silk Seven (S7+)
The S7+ framework examines the strategic potential for economic integration among Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The project assesses how deeper regional cooperation could strengthen trade, connectivity, and collective economic resilience while reshaping the region’s role in the global economy.
Beyond Bilateral
The research addresses a longstanding policy challenge: Central Asian states have largely engaged external powers individually, limiting their negotiating leverage. By evaluating the economic and institutional foundations of an S7+ bloc, the project will identify whether coordinated regional action could enhance bargaining power, attract investment, and improve long-term economic and strategic outcomes.
A Greater Central Asia
An economically integrated region stretching from the Caspian Basin to the Arabian Sea would reshape Eurasian geopolitics. Such integration reduces dependence on any single external power, while creating new trade and investment opportunities. For the United States, a more economically integrated Central Asia offers a more capable partner in a region of growing strategic importance.
