For several decades, the global development imaginary has been consolidated into a rigid dichotomy: Asia as the engine of world growth and Africa as a marginal continent within the international economic system. This narrative, widely reproduced in political, media, and academic discourse, fails to capture the complexity and heterogeneity of African trajectories.

The invitation extended by U.S. President Donald Trump to the leaders of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to attend the 2026 G20 carries a well-crafted geopolitical rationale. The rise of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan on the international stage reflects a central aspiration for Central Asia to be more than merely a chess piece in the game of great powers—particularly as both countries present themselves as a “bridge” between Russia and the West, and as an energy and logistics hub lin