In January, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of National Economy reported that oil production in the country had risen from 78 million to 86.2 million metric tons year-on-year, whereas only six months earlier, in July 2017, the annual forecast had stood at just 81 million. The giant Kashagan... MORE

The Secretariat of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) Parliamentary Assembly is currently examining a bill on private military and security organizations (Private Military Companies—PMC) (RIA Novosti, February 5). If adopted inside the Moscow-led alliance, the individual CSTO member states will then be tasked with... MORE

The security forces of Kazakhstan carried out a special operation on February 16, and detained 29 members of a criminal gang, which included customs officials as well as law enforcement officers. Among those arrested was Damirbek Asylbek ulu, a deputy of the parliament of neighboring... MORE

Kazakhstan’s parliament introduced new legislation, on January 24, 2018, pertaining to the National Security Council (KNSC) (Abctv.kz, January 24). The legislation notably follows last year’s adoption of a new military strategy, which focuses on ways to strengthen national security and domestic stability (see EDM, October... MORE

The foreign ministers of the five littoral Caspian states—Azerbaijan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran—met in Moscow, on December 5, 2017, to try to finalize an agreement on the legal status of the Caspian Sea. After the talks, the Azerbaijani and Russian representatives, Elmar Mammadyarov and... MORE

From one perspective, China has enormous “soft power” in Central Asia, the ability, as Joseph Nye defined it (Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, New York, 1990), “to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion.” It can and... MORE

During Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s meeting in Washington with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, on January 16, a suggestion reportedly came up to transfer the venue of talks and negotiations about the war in eastern Ukraine from Minsk to Astana. An avalanche of opinions followed.... MORE

Against the backdrop of turbulent developments over the last two decades in neighboring Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan may arguably be called an island of prosperity in Central Asia. In his Address to the People of Kazakhstan, delivered on January 10, President Nursultan Nazarbayev reinforced this... MORE

When Uzbekistanis elected Shavkat Mirziyoyev as their president on December 4, 2016, they entered 2017 with a healthy dose of skepticism that real change would follow. Indeed, during his first public address as the interim head of state, Mirziyoyev, previous president Islam Karimov’s prime minister... MORE

The year 2017 proved to be an eventful one for Kazakhstan, even as its long-time president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, who turned 77 last July, has yet to designate a potential successor to step into his shoes following the end of Nazarbayev’s more-than-25-year reign. The first part... MORE