Abstract

During the Chicago's NATO summit in 2012 the members of the North Atlantic Alliance confirmed the military departure from Afghanistan by 2014, offering a new framework of commitment in the region through military training of the Afghan security forces and economic assistance in order to ensure the transition process and the internal stability. The upcoming withdrawal of the NATO/ISAF military forces from the region is spreading serious concerns in Central Asia, because the Afghanistan's permanent condition of instability is perceived as the main source of threats to the regional security architecture. However several dangerous threats to the regional stability and security derive from Central Asia, linked to unsolved economic and social issues as well as to the authoritarian management of power. The main aim of this analysis is to evaluate the potential impact of the NATO's departure on Central Asian security architecture, which could lead to a geopolitical reshaping in the region, considering that Russia and China would not be able to provide security in the post soviet space.

Fabio Indeo, PhD in Geopolitics. He is External Research Fellow at the University of Camerino (Italy) and Visiting Research Associate at the Center for Energy Governance and Security in Seoul, South Korea.