On November 6, 2025, the Central Asian presidents will gather in Washington DC. The summit will be the crowning achievement for a decade-old format.
On November 6, 2025, the Central Asian presidents will gather in Washington D.C. That’s never happened before – in fact, most of the Central Asian leaders have never made a formal visit to the U.S. capital, much less all at once. The summit will be the crowning achievement for a little-noticed format.
For a decade, U.S. foreign policy in Central Asia has been channeled through the C5+1. Centered on nearly annual meetings of the six countries’ foreign ministers, the C5+1 has enabled the United States to approach and deal with the distant region collectively. This is particularly important as the region’s place in U.S. foreign policy has evolved beyond the war in Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the five Central Asian states – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – have deepened regional cooperation on their own in the face of a revanchist Russia and an ever-expanding China.
As the C5+1 marks its 10th anniversary with a historic summit in Washington, D.C., we take a look back at the history of the mechanism.
In this video by Diplomat Asia, our new YouTube channel, we discuss the C5+1 and future of U.S.-Central Asia relations.
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