BAKU, Azerbaijan, October 1. Central Asia and
the Caucasus lack their own institutional mechanisms for regional
cooperation, Frederick Starr, chairman of the Central Asia-Caucasus
Institute (CACI) at the American Foreign Policy Council, said at
the CAMCA Regional Forum 2026 in Baku today, Trend's correspondent reports
from the event.


According to Starr, various countries and regions have
established different formats for engagement with Central Asia over
the past decades.


“The main point is that this region lacks centripetal forces –
forces that bring its countries together and connect them. They are
doing this: business representatives are far ahead, and it is also
happening at the highest level, but they lack institutionalization
of their relations,” he said.


Starr said Central Asia and the Caucasus remain the only region
in the world without their own separate organizational
infrastructure.


He cited the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as
an example.


“Look at ASEAN – it is an excellent example. Several years ago,
a delegation of CAMCA participants went to Singapore and spent a
week studying how they operate within ASEAN,” Starr said.







He emphasized that ASEAN countries differ significantly from one
another but, in his words, interact “very successfully, sensibly
and purposefully.”


Starr also recalled attempts by Central Asian countries to
establish their own regional structures following the collapse of
the Soviet Union.


According to him, shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet
Union, the five Central Asian presidents jointly approached the UN
with an initiative to declare the region a nuclear-weapon-free
zone.


“They worked as a team and secured a vote at the UN. Thus, all
of Central Asia became a nuclear-weapon-free zone. Several years
ago, the Central Asian countries approached the UN stating that
they are a separate world region and need their own structures.
They asked the General Assembly to vote on recognizing Central Asia
as a world region. Everyone voted in favor,” he said.


According to Starr, no significant development of the initiative
followed, but he described the step taken by the Central Asian
countries as important.