Recent weeks have seen a number of major narcotics busts in Tajikistan. On June 17, a border patrol found a cache containing almost 420 kilograms of cannabis in Shurobod district, on the country’s southern frontier with Afghanistan. On June 11, the authorities reported busting some... MORE

The United States’ military and security assistance initiatives in Central Asia have frequently aroused controversy in Moscow. Numerous aspects are perceived conspiratorially by the Russian leadership who regard such activities as ultimately designed to weaken Moscow’s influence in the region. Following the completion of the... MORE

Russian authorities are trying to dramatically change the situation in Dagestan. The strategically important North Caucasian republic has a 150-kilometer (93-mile) long border with Georgia and a 315-km (196-mile) long border with Azerbaijan. The republic also has 530 km (329 miles) of coastline on the... MORE

This week, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov clashed with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, publicly humiliating the former president. During a press-covered meeting of key cabinet ministers in a Soviet-built military residential neighborhood in the Moscow region (voenny gorodok Petrovskoye) Medvedev slammed the Defense Ministry for dragging... MORE

Azerbaijan-Turkmenistan relations, which experienced a significant thaw since the death of Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov (Turkmenbashi), deteriorated again last week (June 19). The most recent conflict began when Turkmenistan started undertaking seismic work on a disputed oilfield in the Caspian Sea. The oilfield, discovered by... MORE

Kazakhstan’s parliament will draft a new law on state borders after 14 soldiers and a ranger were killed at a remote border post on the Chinese-Kazakhstani border on May 28. The sole surviving boarder guard has reportedly confessed to shooting his fellow soldiers in retaliation... MORE

A fight between non-Slavic Dagestanis and Russians in the northern Russian Kirov region on June 20 spiraled into massive clashes involving more than 100 people two days later. One hundred seventy police officers were sent in to stop the violence. Although officials deny there was... MORE

On June 26 in Istanbul, Azerbaijan’s and Turkey’s leaders signed the inter-governmental agreement on the Trans-Anatolia Gas Pipeline (TANAP) project. This agreement marks the start of implementing the EU-planned Southern Corridor to Europe for Caspian gas. This pipeline would run from the Georgia-Turkey border to... MORE

In the European Union’s second Eastern Partnership Integration Index (EPII) report, trends evident already last year are continuing (https://eap-index.eu/). Ukraine is moving “away from its one-time status as the ENP [European Neighborhood Policy] poster child.” This report confirms the EU’s assessment of the first year... MORE

Russia pledged to limit its over-reliance on crude oil prices. However, the economic model of Russia’s oil and gas sector still seems destined to remain largely export-oriented, including the government’s continued dependence on petrodollars. Russia’s financial over-reliance on oil and gas remains an Achilles’ heel... MORE