Afghanistan in 2019 was marked by advances and setbacks with respect to stabilizing the country and reshaping its relations with international partners. The year brought new presidential elections and signs of potential political dialogue, as well as hopes for expanded economic ties with neighbors. But there are still uncertainties about the prospects of US withdrawal and the country’s future.

Three aspects symbolize the state of affairs in and around Afghanistan in 2018: the fragmentation of domestic political actors, the increasing desecuritization of rhetoric with respect to Afghanistan by neighboring countries, and the diversification of Afghanistan’s global partners. While the US strategy showed signs of stalling amid increasing violence and the fragmentation of local actors, there are changes in the attitude of neighboring states.

By focusing on the impact of Chinese engagement in Uzbekistan, this article promotes an understanding of the motivations of Central Asian states such as Uzbekistan in strategically engaging China. Although China’s Belt and Road Initiative has received wide coverage, few details of other Chinese projects and their impacts have been analyzed. The article aims to fill in this gap by outlining the latest project details of Chinese engagement and their impact in this region.

In contrast to the claims that Japanese foreign policy increasingly shifts toward realist and pragmatic modes of engagement, this paper argues that Japanese foreign policy is largely trapped between idealist and pragmatic criteria in its Central Asian (CA) policy. Japan’s policy in CA is thus a hybrid of policies that are not properly understood in CA, nor can they be explained to the public at home.