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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Russia’s Caspian Flotilla has been dominant in the inland sea for so long that many have ignored the fact that, over the past several years, it has ceased to be the only national navy that matters. Outside powers, due to the expansion of their navies,... MORE

Kazakhstan recently expressed concerns about the security of the Russian Port of Novorossiysk, which Astana uses to export most of its oil. Energy Minister Almasadam Satkaliyev said that Kazakhstan will discuss the port’s security following the drone attacks on August 4 that led to the... MORE

On July 18 and 19, the Saudi city of Jeddah hosted a historic geopolitical event—the first-ever summit between the leaders of Central Asia and the Arab world. The presidents of the five Central Asian states—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan—met with the heads of state... MORE