When President Trump hosted the signing ceremony of the peace deal between Azerbaijan and Armenia last week, celebrations weren’t limited to Washington, Baku and Yerevan.
In Jerusalem, Israeli officials welcomed the initiative led by one of their closest allies, Azerbaijan, in partnership with the U.S. The trilateral cooperation had been a shared strategic goal. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, recognizing the ineffectiveness of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group as peace arbiters, opted instead for direct negotiations with Washington, supported by Jerusalem.
Now, Mr. Trump has an opportunity to reshape the Middle East and Eurasia by expanding the Abraham Accords to include Azerbaijan and Central Asian nations such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. A strategic enlargement of the accords would counter adversaries, diversify supply chains, and build a bloc of moderate, pro-Western Muslim-majority nations aligned with the U.S. and Israel. It would also showcase Israeli outreach, helping counter the anti-Israel global narrative.
These nations already maintain strong relationships with Jerusalem. Azerbaijan is Israel’s closest Muslim ally, supplying up to 40% of Israel’s oil and receiving advanced weapons systems in return, which was key to Baku’s success in two wars since 2020. Kazakhstan also is among Israel’s top oil suppliers, and Uzbekistan has stepped in to fill key export gaps like copper after the Turkish boycott.
The potential goes far beyond bilateral energy deals. As outlined by the Yorktown Institute in Newsweek last year, political trends in Central Asia and the South Caucasus offer the U.S. opportunity and leverage through Abraham Accords expansion. Russia, bogged down in Ukraine, has lost influence in its near abroad. Kazakhstan, Armenia and Azerbaijan are asserting greater independence, seeking greater cooperation with powers like Turkey, the European Union, China, India and the U.S.
Central Asia is crucial to U.S. power competition with China and other hostile rivals. It is rich in strategic minerals vital to national security and technological supply chains. Kazakhstan holds some of the world’s largest reserves of rare-earth elements and strategic minerals—essential for everything from smart weapons to electric vehicles and semiconductors. Uzbekistan recently announced $2.6 billion in new investments to scale up its mining sector, aiming to become a top supplier of copper, lithium and rare earths. The U.S. relies on China for 70% of its rare-earth imports. That dependency is a strategic vulnerability—and Central Asian reserves offer a viable alternative.
Read the rest at WSJ.
Seth Cropsey is the founder and president of Yorktown Institute.
Joseph Epstein is the director of the Turan Research Center and senior fellow at the Yorktown Institute.
