Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Uzbekistan approved of the U.S. Central Command's request for access to an air base, the Karshi-Khanabad airfield, in southern Uzbekistan, to station 1,500 of its armed forces, in exchange for security guarantees and assistance with its own internal terrorism [REF].
In 2012, Uzbekistan opted to formally withdraw from the Russian-led CSTO alliance, leading some to debate whether such a move indicated a shift in its foreign policy to the West, possibly influenced by its increasingly vital strategic position in Central Asia and NATO's impending future withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan [REF].