Washington has simply “surrendered” and lost its battle for influence in Central Asia’s information sphere.

That’s the view of former US Ambassador to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, Daniel N. Rosenblum.

The abandonment has opened up a vacuum that has enabled Russia and China to dominate the narrative across the region, added Rosenblum in remarks reported by Yale Daily News.

“Eight months into the second Trump administration, it seems clear that the information war is over in Central Asia, not because the Russians won. We have simply surrendered,” he was quoted as saying.

The ex-envoy spoke out in a lecture delivered at Yale University’s Humanities Quadrangle on September 15.

In a speech entitled “Battling the Firehose of Falsehood: Confronting Russian Disinformation in Central Asia”, he reflected on how during his six years in Central Asia, relentless Russian disinformation campaigns often portrayed US diplomats as destabilising actors.

He recalled an instance when Russian outlets made the false claim that a Nato base had opened in Kazakhstan, when the reality was that as ambassador he had cut the ribbon on a US-funded conference centre for a Kazakh peacekeeping institute. “While it is easy to joke about such an absurd idea,” Rosenblum said, as quoted by Yale Daily News, “the intent behind such Russian information operations is deadly serious.”

Rosenblum, an alumnus of Trumbull College at Yale, was US ambassador to Uzbekistan from 2019 to 2022 and to Kazakhstan from 2022 to 2025.

He was also reported as noting that US embassies were tasked with countering the false Russian narratives by pointing to tangible achievements. These included covid-19 health initiatives, agricultural partnerships and academic exchange initiatives.

Much of this work, however, had fallen to pieces since 2023, said Rosenblum. In his reported remarks, he blamed Trump administration actions such as the dismissal of 1,300 US State Department personnel, the scrapping of USAID programmes in Central Asia and cuts to US government-backed media outlets such as Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) for the setbacks caused to substantial parts of the work.

In a post-lecture interview, Rosenblum concluded: “The biggest challenge today is ourselves. We have to decide as a country, do we want to be engaged in the world or not? If we cut ourselves off from the world, we will ultimately be less secure and less prosperous.”

Rosenblum also looked at how China was expanding its inroads of influence in Central Asia, “doing a pretty good job of winning friends and influencing people”.

Another observer who has noted China’s success in building up its presence in Central Asia is Frank Maracchione, an expert on China's engagement with the region at the University of Kent.

On September 14, RFE/RL reported him as saying: "China is now completely integrated into the region. There is no denying its overwhelming presence in Central Asia."

He added: "It's no longer just about Beijing's relationship with Central Asian governments or only big infrastructure projects. A lot of people across the region work for Chinese companies, buy Chinese products, and are learning Chinese. China is a part of everyday life now."

The lecture at Yale was organised by the Central Asia Initiative of the MacMillan Center, the Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Memorial Fund and Asian Crossroads, a student group committed to raising awareness of Central Asia.