A ‘Steppe’ into the Void: Central Asia in the Post-Oil World

Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan are petrostates, and, thus, trapped by the energy transition. This paper delves into the nexus between the effects of the energy transition, regime stability in Central Asia’s fossil-fuel dominated economies, and international stability, a topic of increasing theoretical and policy relevance as we enter a post-oil era in world politics. Theoretically, we can tentatively conclude that both the resilience of such regimes and the links between their changing foreign policy entanglements and regime stability have been underestimated since the onset of the energy transition. Politically, this delicate balancing act could fail and the presence of such failed petrostates on Europe’s doorstep would be a serious issue for Western policymakers. A study contributing to a comparative perspective on foreign energy policy in key Central Asian petrostates in the context of global energy transition processes is an especially timely response to these developments.