A personal exploration of whether three decades of evolution have brought Turkmenistan’s neutrality to a state of natural balance
Tariq Saeedi
Many years ago, traveling near the borders of Iran and Pakistan, I witnessed something that has stayed with me ever since—a perfect demonstration of harmony in its purest form. — A teenage shepherd was tending his small flock of sheep, accompanied by a single goat. It’s an old practice in those parts to include at least one goat among sheep, for goats are smarter, more alert, more capable of sensing danger and opportunity alike.
The flock was grazing peacefully, moving slowly toward the highway—a potentially dangerous destination. The shepherd boy, walking behind them, wanted to turn them back. But he didn’t shout. He didn’t run. He simply twirled his baton obliquely—a small stick, not even a proper staff, just something to communicate with his flock silently.
The lead goat couldn’t have seen him. The angle was wrong. Yet the goat sensed something—perhaps a shift in the air, perhaps an intuition born of countless days spent under the same sun with the same shepherd. The goat turned abruptly, looked directly at the boy, understood his gentle signal perfectly, and reversed course. The entire flock followed without hesitation.
This was harmony.
Not the harmony of words or commands, but the harmony of understanding so deep that communication becomes almost telepathic. The harmony of a living system where each element knows its role and responds instinctively to the needs of the whole.
The Ironsmith and His Wife
On another occasion, I encountered a different kind of harmony—one forged, quite literally, in fire. A gypsy ironsmith and his wife were working together to forge knives from sheets of iron. Their workshop was rudimentary, the oven crudely built, but what they created there was a symphony of coordination.
The ironsmith turned the knife blade in the fire, rotating it constantly to heat it evenly until it glowed red-hot. Meanwhile, his wife worked the forge blower with precise, measured strokes—not too much air, not too little, just the exact amount needed to maintain the perfect temperature.
When the metal reached the right heat, the ironsmith pulled the knife from the fire with his oven pliers. Without a word, his wife picked up the huge hammer and began striking the blade in a steady rhythm. The husband shifted the knife back and forth beneath her hammer, positioning it so that each blow landed exactly where needed to shape the cutting edge.
There was no discussion, no counting, no verbal coordination. Just two people working in perfect, silent harmony, each anticipating the other’s movements, each trusting the other completely. The hammer fell with metronomic precision. The knife moved beneath it with fluid grace. Together, they created something sharp, strong, and useful.
This too was harmony—not the absence of force, but force applied with perfect timing, perfect cooperation, perfect mutual understanding.
The Question of Turkmenistan
These memories return to me now as I consider a different question: Has Turkmenistan’s neutrality, after thirty years of continuous evolution, achieved a similar state of harmony? Has this living organism—for that is what neutrality has become in Turkmenistan’s hands—reached a point where its internal and external relationships flow with the natural ease of the shepherd and his flock, the ironsmith and his wife?
It’s a bold question, perhaps even a presumptuous one. Harmony is a state that’s easier to recognize than to achieve, easier to experience than to prove. Yet as we approach the 30th anniversary of Turkmenistan’s permanent neutrality and the International Conference on December 12, 2025, there are signs worth examining.
The Evidence of LLDC3
In August 2025, Turkmenistan hosted the Third United Nations Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Awaza, resulting in the adoption of the Awaza Political Declaration and the formal endorsement of the Awaza Programme of Action for 2024-2034—a landmark framework to accelerate sustainable development for the world’s 32 landlocked nations.
What struck observers about LLDC3 wasn’t just its successful outcomes—though these were substantial. The Awaza Declaration was described as “a turning point” and “a blueprint for action, not just words,” with UN officials noting it produced far more concrete results than previous LLDC conferences. What was equally remarkable was how naturally Turkmenistan assumed the role of host and facilitator.
Turkmenistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN captured this perfectly: “Hosting LLDC3 is not only a significant political event, but it also reflects Turkmenistan’s foreign policy philosophy: to be a bridge, not a barrier”.
There was no sense of strain, no feeling that Turkmenistan was stretching beyond its capacity or reaching for a role that didn’t fit. Instead, there was the impression of a country doing what comes naturally—providing neutral space, facilitating dialogue, advancing initiatives that serve common interests rather than narrow national agendas.
Like the shepherd’s gentle gesture that turned the flock, Turkmenistan’s approach to LLDC3 seemed effortless because it was aligned with its fundamental nature. The outcomes were significant precisely because they didn’t require force or manipulation—they flowed from genuine coordination among willing partners.
The Expanding Circle of Friends
Another indicator of harmony can be found in the growth of the Group of Friends of Neutrality for Peace, Security and Sustainable Development. Established at Turkmenistan’s initiative to facilitate dialogue on the practical application of neutrality principles in preventing conflicts and resolving humanitarian issues, the Group began with just over 20 countries.
Today, that number has grown to 27 member countries, and growing, with Tajikistan being among the most recent to join, demonstrating what the UN described as “their commitment to peace and security” and their desire to “contribute their valuable insights and expertise to further the Group’s mission.”
This expansion wasn’t achieved through pressure or persuasion. Countries are joining because they see value in the platform, because they recognize in Turkmenistan’s model of neutrality as something that resonates with their own aspirations and needs. Like iron filings drawn to a magnet, nations are aligning themselves with this vision not because they must, but because it makes sense to them.
The growth is organic, steady, and sustainable—characteristics of a system in harmony rather than one straining against its natural limits.
The Geopolitical Balance
Perhaps the most telling sign of harmony is how Turkmenistan maintains its relationships with major powers—Russia, China, Iran, the United States, the European Union, Turkey—without the visible strain that such balancing acts usually entail.
Turkmenistan sells natural gas to China, engages with Russia on transit and trade, explores energy cooperation with Turkey and potentially Europe through the Trans-Caspian Pipeline project, maintains cordial relations with Iran despite occasional complexities, and participates in forums with the United States and other Western nations. Since June 2025 alone, Turkmenistan engaged with Iran, Russia, China, the EU, and the United States in rapid succession, demonstrating what observers called its “sophisticated diplomatic approach as major powers compete for influence”.
What’s remarkable isn’t that Turkmenistan maintains these relationships—many countries attempt similar multi-vector diplomacy. What’s remarkable is how natural it appears, how absent of the usual diplomatic crises and forced choices that plague other nations caught between competing powers.
Even as the post-Soviet space undergoes major geopolitical reconfigurations, Turkmenistan continues its course of “permanent neutrality,” selling its resources to whoever will buy them while avoiding any binding alliance. This isn’t the neutrality of isolation or weakness, but the neutrality of a system that has found its equilibrium—like the goat that knows instinctively where the flock should graze, like the ironsmith’s wife who knows exactly when to strike the hammer.
The balance doesn’t require constant recalibration or anxiety-inducing decision-making. It comes naturally because Turkmenistan has internalized neutrality not as a policy to be calculated but as an identity to be lived.
The Internal-External Harmony
True harmony exists not just in external relationships but in the alignment between internal values and external actions. This is where Turkmenistan’s neutrality demonstrates perhaps its most profound achievement.
The country’s Constitution enshrines neutrality as a fundamental principle. Its educational system teaches neutrality as a core value. Its cultural identity incorporates neutrality as part of what it means to be Turkmen. When Turkmenistan acts on the international stage—whether providing humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan, hosting LLDC3, proposing regional centers for climate technology, or facilitating dialogue on shared resources—it isn’t adopting a role separate from its internal character. It’s expressing outwardly what it already is inwardly.
This is the harmony of authenticity. The shepherd boy didn’t pretend to command the flock through dominance he didn’t possess. He worked with their nature, guiding rather than forcing. The ironsmith and his wife didn’t struggle against the properties of metal; they worked with fire and force in a way that brought out the blade’s potential.
Similarly, Turkmenistan’s neutrality isn’t a mask worn for international consumption. It’s the genuine expression of how the country understands itself and its role in the world.
The Wisdom of Non-Striving
In Taoist philosophy, there’s a concept called “wu wei”—often translated as “non-action” or “effortless action.” It doesn’t mean doing nothing; it means acting in harmony with the natural flow of things, so that what you do feels effortless because it’s aligned with how things want to go anyway.
When I think about whether Turkmenistan’s neutrality has achieved harmony, I think about wu wei. I think about whether the country’s international engagement feels forced or natural, strained or flowing.
The evidence suggests the latter. LLDC3 succeeded not because Turkmenistan forced an agenda, but because it created space for natural cooperation. The Group of Friends of Neutrality expands not through recruitment drives but through the gravitational pull of a compelling idea. Turkmenistan’s geopolitical relationships endure not through exhausting diplomatic gymnastics but through consistent adherence to principled neutrality that all parties can trust.
This is the wisdom of non-striving—achieving much by forcing little, influencing significantly by respecting boundaries, succeeding sustainably by working with the grain of international relations rather than against it.
The Signs Are There
Can we say with confidence that Turkmenistan’s neutrality has achieved harmony? If we’re demanding mathematical proof or absolute certainty, probably not. But if we’re looking for signs, for indicators that suggest a living system has reached a stable, productive, sustainable equilibrium—yes, those signs are there.
The success of LLDC3, surpassing previous conferences in concrete outcomes, suggests a convening power that comes from genuine neutrality rather than hidden agendas.
The steady growth of the Group of Friends of Neutrality, with countries voluntarily joining, suggests an attractive model rather than an imposed framework.
The maintenance of balanced relationships with multiple major powers, without constant crises or forced choices, suggests a diplomatic approach that has found its natural rhythm.
The alignment between internal values and external actions suggests authenticity rather than performance.
The ability to respond to new challenges—whether AI, climate change, food security, or humanitarian crises—without abandoning core principles suggests a flexible yet stable system.
These are the markers of harmony: naturalness, sustainability, balance, authenticity, and the capacity to adapt without losing coherence.
The Living Organism Continues to Evolve
Of course, harmony is not stasis. The shepherd and his flock will encounter new challenges. The ironsmith and his wife will forge different blades. And Turkmenistan’s neutrality will face new tests as the world continues its turbulent evolution.
But what thirty years has created is a foundation—a living organism that has learned to breathe, to sense, to respond, to maintain its balance even as the ground shifts beneath it. This is not the end of the journey but perhaps the achievement of maturity, the transition from self-conscious effort to natural expression.
When the December conference convenes, when representatives from around the world gather in Ashgabat to examine the meaning and potential of neutrality in the 21st century, they will be observing not just a policy but a living example of how principle and practice can achieve harmony.
They will see a country that has made neutrality work—not through isolation but through engagement, not through weakness but through principled strength, not through rigidity but through adaptive resilience. They will see a model that, after thirty years of continuous evolution, has achieved something rare in international relations: a way of being in the world that feels natural rather than forced, sustainable rather than fragile, harmonious rather than discordant.
The Question Answered
So has Turkmenistan’s neutrality achieved harmony?
Based on the evidence—the successful hosting of major international conferences, the voluntary expansion of partnerships, the balanced maintenance of complex relationships, the alignment of internal values with external actions, the natural rather than strained quality of its international engagement—I believe we can say yes, to a significant degree.
Like the shepherd who can turn his flock with a gentle gesture, like the ironsmith and his wife who forge metal through silent coordination, Turkmenistan has reached a point where its neutrality operates with something approaching natural grace. The living organism has matured. The balance has been found. The harmony, while never perfect and always evolving, is real.
This is what three decades of commitment, consistency, and continuous refinement can achieve. This is what the December conference will celebrate—not just the anniversary of a policy decision, but the achievement of a state of being where neutrality and harmony have become nearly synonymous, where principle and practice have merged into something that works not through force but through alignment with deeper truths about how nations can coexist peacefully in a complex world.
The shepherd didn’t need to shout. The ironsmith didn’t need to explain. And Turkmenistan, perhaps, no longer needs to prove its neutrality—it simply lives it, naturally and harmoniously, day by day, decision by decision, relationship by relationship.
That is the achievement of thirty years, and that is what makes the upcoming conference not just a commemoration but a demonstration of how far a living organism can evolve when given time, commitment, and authentic purpose. /// nCa, 24 November 2025