It is yet to be seen whether Turkmenistan will become a peacemaking center, as envisioned in the foreign policy document. Olcott, of the Carnegie Endowment, says Turkmenistan would be more credible as a regional leader if it first took care of domestic reforms. Turkmenistan has to succeed with the policy of social, economic and political reform. You can't make yourself a model by decreeing that you are a model. And you have to become a model by your actions.
Neutrality is particularly difficult to achieve in the energy sector.
Turkmenistan has the world's fourth largest natural gas reserves. But before it can exploit this resource, it must first break Russia's influence, because Turkmenistan relies on Russia for pipeline routes. Wayne Merry, a regional expert at the Atlantic Council, a Washington-based foreign policy institute, says neutrality makes sense for a country in Turkmenistan's geographic position. Turkmenistan lies between Russia and Iran, and between the Caspian and Central Asia. But this has not yet happened.