The goal of this thesis is to trace the historical evolution of energy sovereignty in Central Asia from the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 to the present, conceptualizing sovereignty not as autarkic self-sufficiency but as the capacity to govern domestic resources through negotiated interdependence. Published literature has largely examined the region through the lenses of energy security and the water-energy-food nexus, but rarely through energy sovereignty as a primary framework; this thesis addresses that gap. It begins by examining the Soviet inheritance, an integrated power grid “Central Asian power system” (CAPS) and a seasonal water-for-fuel barter mechanism, and analyzes how this centralized architecture fractured into competing national strategies within the shifting geopolitical interests of Russia, China, and Western institutions. The research goal was achieved by a qualitative comparative historical case study, using document analysis and a most-similar systems comparison of two contrasting states. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan are examined in depth because they represent the sharpest structural contrast across the region’s upstream-downstream, hydro-versus-hydrocarbon divide, while Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan provide regional context on grid synchronization, dam politics, and gas export corridors. The thesis finds that both states, from opposite resource endowments, pursue their flagship projects through external finance, technology, and ownership, and concludes that energy sovereignty in Central Asia is not an achieved state of isolationist autonomy but an ongoing process of managed interdependence, where national energy security depends on multilateral regional co-ownership and diversified external partnerships. Future research could address the study’s limitations by extending the framework to the three contextual states, drawing on Uzbek and Kyrgyz language sources and fieldwork, and examining whether states that host but do not own their generation can be said to be sovereign over it.