Partnership for Peace in Central Asia

Partnership for Peace (PfP) was established by NATO to engage former communist countries at the end of the Cold War. The US and NATO shared common interests in engaging former Soviet controlled states to promote democracy, military and economic reform which expanded into the Central Asia region in the middle and late 1990's. With military to military cooperative exercises in Central Asia, the US was able to forge relationships that led to successful military operations during Operation Enduring Freedom. US/NATO interests in democratic and economic reforms in Central Asia began to diverge after September 11 and resulted in the emergence of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). With the rise of this organization, US/NATO interests continued to diverge as the SCO established a regional foothold in leading security changes in Central Asia.