![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-central-asia.jpg)
Latest Articles about Kazakhstan
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/caspian-2006-2022-640x798.jpg)
Caspian Sea Drying Up, Forcing Coastal Countries to Respond
The Caspian Sea is in danger of drying up. On June 7, government officials in the coastal city of Aktau, Kazakhstan, released a statement declaring a natural state of emergency for the maritime industry due to the sea’s low water levels (Facebook.com/Aktau_Press, June 7; Eurasianet,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Aliyev-at-SOCAR-plant-640x324.jpeg)
Azerbaijan Learns Important Lessons From Israel-Hamas War
On October 29, the Israeli government granted a tender to the State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) for gas exploration in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Mediterranean Sea (Azvision.az, October 30). The deal came two days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/putin-and-tokayev-640x395.jpeg)
Russia Tries and Fails to Gain a Foothold in Asia-Pacific
Few prospects worry Moscow more than a potential reduction of tensions between the United States and China. Such a development, even if half-hearted and temporary, would threaten a curtailment of Beijing’s support for Russia in the international arena—at least from Moscow’s perspective. The Asia-Pacific Economic... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/soyuz-launch-baikonur-640x427.jpeg)
Russia’s Manned Space Program Disrupted by War in Ukraine
On November 7, the chief designer for Russia’s manned space systems, Vladimir Solovyov, proclaimed that the planned Russian Orbital Station (ROS) “will have a service life of 50 years” (TASS, November 7). The failure of the Luna-25 mission to the Moon and limited finances have... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Kazakh-girl-playing-dombra-640x426.jpeg)
Dramatic Demographic Changes Threaten Stability in Kazakhstan
The population of Kazakhstan will exceed 20 million people for the first time, and more than 70 percent of its residents will be ethnic Kazakhs sometime in November (Kazakhstan Today, November 1). Coinciding with this welcome boom are developments that threaten the stability of the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Biden-c51-in-NYC-640x384.jpeg)
US Summit Reflects Decline in Russia’s Position in Central Asia
Numerous accounts of Russia’s position and influence in Central Asia have commented on Moscow’s declining standing there. Those results are visible in the clear unhappiness of Central Asian governments with the war in Ukraine, what they perceive as Russia’s failure to take their interests seriously.... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Central_Downtown_Astana_baiterek-1-640x425.jpeg)
Kazakhstan Faces Variety of Separatist Threats, Any of Which Russia Could Use
Since Vladimir Putin launched his expanded invasion of Ukraine last year and annexed more of the country into Russia—as he began to do in 2014 with the occupation of Crimea— relations between Kazakhstan and Russia have deteriorated (see EDM, September 9, 2021, and June 28,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/tokayev-and-xi--640x471.jpeg)
Kazakhstan Cautiously Builds Ties With China
After the mass protests of January 2022, Kazakhstan has sought to distinguish itself from the economic and foreign policy failures of the former Nursultan Nazarbayev administration. In September 2023, Kazakhstani President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev shared his vision to ameliorate Kazakhstan’s “dependence on raw materials, low labor productivity,... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Central-Asian-states-sept-2023.jpeg)
Iran Losing Out to Turkey in Central Asia, Frustrating Tehran
Iran has traditionally faced an uphill battle in its struggle with Turkey for influence in Central Asia. But for most of the past three decades, Tehran has successfully exploited two factors in this fight. On the one hand, the Islamic Republic has relied on its... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/Kazakh-oil-exports-sept-2023-640x360.jpg)
Ukraine’s Innovative Black Sea Tactics Threaten Kazakhstan’s Oil Exports
At the end of August 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine launched a drone strike against the 126th Brigade of the Russian Black Sea Fleet stationed at the Sevastopol base in Crimea (Kyiv Independent, August 26). The attack hit ammunition depots and damaged critical Russian... MORE