Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences Studies (JHSSS) Website: www.jhsss.org ISSN: 2663-7197 63 The Impact of Post-Communist Central Asia’s Internal Dynamics on its External Relations Dr. Enayatollah Yazdani Associate Professor of International Relations, Research Center for Middle Eastern Studies, School of International Studies, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai Campus, China Corresponding Author: Dr. Enayatollah Yazdani, E-mail: yazdani@mail.sysu.edu.cn ARTICLE INFORMATION ABSTRACT Received: August 21, 2020 Accepted: September 15, 2020 Volume: 2 Issue: 5 Under the Soviet Union rule, Central Asia was a closed region with no access to the outside world. Both internal and external affairs in the region was directed by the central government in Moscow. When the Central Asian republics became dependence in 1991, the situation changed.Yet, in the new era Central Asia has faced many problems and challenges. This paper aims to explore how Central Asia’s internal dynamics have influenced its external relations? The paper concludes that the region’s external relations have been greatly affected by its internal dynamics. KEYWORDS Central Asia, Communist, the Soviet Union, Russia, Internal Dynamics, and Foreign Relations 1. Introduction 1 With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asia, a closed and hard-to-reach region of Eurasia, once again achieved a significant position on Eurasia’s map, with increased geopolitical and strategic weight. Yet, emergence of politico-economic and cultural dilemmas, particularly until the mid-1990s, and lack of actual capability to cope with these problems properly, has made the situation challengeable in Central Asia since independence in 1991. 2 Although since that time the region’s economy has been developed to some extent, the republics still face daunting political, ethnic, economic, and environmental challenges to their stability and integrity. These factors not only have contributed to the countries insecurity and instability but also have had impact on the region’s foreign relations. This paper aims to explore the Central Asian internal dynamics, which have a significant impact on its external relations. The paper gives a background of the region’s history and discusses the problems and challenges that faced its republics after independence. The main discussion of the paper is that, the region’s internal dynamics, the social, political and economic challenges and problems, in post-Soviet Central Asia have affected their relations with the outside world. Indeed, t he region’s governments have been attempting to establish a network of relations with the outside world in order to receive international political and economic support. 2. Central Asia orientation to the outside world With the demise of the Soviet Union and Russia’s partial withdrawal from Central Asia the geopolitics of the region changed from a closed area to one opening up to other interested foreign players. Under the rule of the Soviet Union, the Central Asian republics never gained the status of independent actors in international relations. Foreign relations were directed by the central government in Moscow, and the central leadership determined foreign policy priorities and objectives. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, these independent countries got opportunity to set out a new framework of foreign relations with the outside world, the situation changed, When the Central Asian republics became independent, one of the most important issues for the region’s states was to explore their foreign relations. Accordingly, in the post-Soviet era the region’s governments were concerned to render a positive image in the eyes of the international community, and to promote their self-identity in international relations, attain membership of regional and international organisations, particularly the United Nations (UN), expand relations with the Published by Al-Kindi Center for Research and Development. Copyright (c) the author(s). This is an open access article under CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) 2 Central Asia comprises of five republics, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,Tajikistan,Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The region is bordered by Russia to the north, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan to the south,China to the east and the Caspian Sea to the west.