While global headlines track great-power clashes, a quieter diplomatic initiative is emerging from a country that seldom captures international attention: Turkmenistan. Ashgabat’s “Peace and Trust” Forum, convening leaders from Russian president Vladimir Putin to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Iranian president Massoud Pezeshkian, is a live demonstration of the country’s leveraging of its permanent neutrality to build a regional platform that draws in regional powers.

This forum builds directly on Turkmenistan’s proposal for a “Consultative Meeting on Security in Central Asia”—a UN-branded maneuver to convert neutrality into influence. Together, they underscore a pivotal reality: Central Asia is no longer just a venue for a new “Great Game” dominated by external powers. As evidenced by their recent summits with the United States and the European Union, the Central Asian nations are increasingly assertive agents shaping their own geopolitical environment.

Turkmenistan’s “active neutrality” has evolved from a defensive principle into a strategic platform. By framing the security dialogue under a UN mandate, Ashgabat created a versatile diplomatic instrument. As one observer notes, the UN “franchise” allows a neutral state to “pour any content” into it, which Turkmenistan is doing by pairing the security meeting with a proposed “Regional Center for Climate Change Technologies in Central Asia.” This bundling of hard security and climate diplomacy enhances its appeal and demonstrates a sophisticated, multi-issue approach to regional diplomacy.

The initiative offers clear strategic benefits. For Turkmenistan, it carves out a distinct role as a convener and facilitator, bolstering sovereignty in a neighborhood bordered by........

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