Latest Articles about Central Asia
China’s Deepening Diplomatic and Economic Engagement in Afghanistan
Introduction On February 29, U.S. and Taliban representatives signed the “Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan” in Doha, Qatar, which laid out a framework for ending the 18-year old conflict in Afghanistan (U.S. State Department, February 29). Despite skepticism in many quarters regarding the viability... MORE
Kazakhstani President Tokayev Embarks on a Turbulent Second Year in Office
On March 19, 2019, Nursultan Nazarbayev resigned as president of Kazakhstan and was constitutionally succeeded the following day by the speaker of the Senate, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev. Less than three months later, on June 9, the president ad interim was confirmed in his role through a... MORE
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan Likely to Sign Border Treaty Soon to Avoid Worse Problems
Nearly 30 years after the disintegration of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), many former Soviet states are still struggling to deal with the delimitation and demarcation of their borders. In the cases involving Armenia and Azerbaijan or Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (see EDM, January... MORE
Collateral Damage: Azerbaijan and Central Asia Are Caught in Russia’s Oil War
As the novel coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic continued to spread across the Eurasian landmass and beyond, the energy-producing states of the South Caucasus and Central Asia were dealt a separate, serious economic blow by Russia. Specifically, Russia’s decision to pull out of the... MORE
Moscow Now Seeking to Make the Caspian Both a North-South and an East-West Hub
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, discussions of trade routes in the Caucasus have mostly been premised on the conviction that the north-south route and the east-west route, backed by Moscow and the West, respectively, are competitors. Every positive development in one is treated... MORE
Uzbekistan Temporarily Chooses Observer Status Instead of Full Membership in Eurasian Union
On March 6, 2020, the Cabinet of Ministers of Uzbekistan approved the decision to apply for observer status with the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) (Kun.uz, March 7). The move brings to a close months of speculation about whether Tashkent would end previous president Islam... MORE
Neo-Ottomanism Edging Out Pan-Turkism in Central Asia
In the last several years, Turkey has shifted from promoting pan-Turkism in the Turkic-speaking countries of the post-Soviet space to backing neo-Ottomanism, a move which reflects both developments inside Turkey and Ankara’s assessments of what will best work for its interests in the post-Soviet space.... MORE
Kalmyk Port and Canal Threaten to Upend Power Relations in North Caucasus
The southwestern Russian Republic of Kalmykia has long hoped to become a major player on the Caspian, which it argues could be achievable with the construction of a new port on that inland sea along with a new canal from there to the Sea of... MORE
Its Caspian Sea Trade Cut by US Sanctions, Iran Turns to Railways—and Moscow Helps
The United States’ sanctions against Iran and the unwillingness of most Caspian littoral states to challenge them have sent Tehran’s maritime trade in this sea plummeting over the last two years, reducing its non-petroleum component by half (Financial Tribune, May 27, 2019). But that has... MORE
Threat of Inter-Ethnic Violence Emerges in Kazakhstan
On the night of February 7–8, in the city of Masanchi, in eastern Kazakhstan near the border with Kyrgyzstan, several hundred ethnic Kazakhs and ethnic Dungans clashed. They exchanged gunfire and, as a result, at least eight people died and dozens more were hospitalized. Numerous... MORE