Uzbekistan: Tilting Central Asia Toward Moscow

Uzbek President Islam Karimov decided to allow his country to join the Moscow-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) in the near future, sources in the Uzbek government said. If Tashkent indeed joins the CSTO — which is likely — the balance of power in Central Asia will shift in Russia's favor and against both the United States and China, while giving the Uzbek government extra assurances that it will stay in power.