In early May, the historic Silk Road city of Samarkand in Uzbekistan will once again become the focal point of Eurasian diplomacy, as it hosts the second Gulf Cooperation Council–Central Asian Summit. This marks a continuation of the high-level engagement initiated in July 2023, when leaders from the GCC and the five Central Asian republics – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan – convened in Jeddah for the first summit of its kind. The significance of these meetings goes well beyond symbolic gestures; they signal a growing effort by two resource-rich, strategically located blocs to revive centuries-old ties and forge a modern partnership, one that could shift the balance of power in a region long dominated by external superpowers.

For over a millennium, the Gulf and Central Asia were deeply intertwined through trade, culture, and religion. From the 8th to the 19th centuries, they thrived as part of a contiguous economic and spiritual sphere that stretched from the Arabian Peninsula to the steppes of Central Asia. These connections were severely disrupted in the 19th century, when Russia’s imperial expansion and later Soviet control reoriented Central Asia’s gaze northward. It was not until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 that the Central Asian republics regained their independence and the opportunity to look southward again.

Since then, the so-called C5 nations have steadily worked to reestablish their identities as sovereign players on the world stage. With vast reserves of oil, gas, uranium, and rare earth minerals, they are natural energy exporters. But being landlocked has necessitated a careful balancing act in foreign relations, as these states require access to seaports and transnational infrastructure corridors. Their strategy has been to pursue a form of “neutral multilateralism,” maintaining cordial ties with Russia, engaging China economically, cooperating with the US selectively, and now........

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