On January 6, Kazakhstan Electricity Grid Operating Company (KEGOC) announced its plans to exit the Central Asian power system. Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan’s inability to reach regional agreements with Kazakhstan on electricity supply over the winter is the main reason for KEGOC’s decision. Due to technical... MORE

Russia and Kazakhstan have agreed to establish a joint regional air defense shield, with Moscow pledging to transfer several S-300 air defense systems to Astana. The S-300’s are designed to protect administrative, industrial, and military centers from tactical and strategic aviation attacks. Russia also invited... MORE

The prospects for resolving the Karabakh conflict are as uncertain as ever after the inability of Armenia and Azerbaijan’s presidents to reach any tangible agreements on the margins of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Astana on December 1-2. It... MORE

International attention focused on Astana on December 1-2, where the leaders of the 56 member-countries gathered for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit, billed by the Kazakh government as an “epoch-making event.” Kazakhstan ended its chairmanship of the organization in a... MORE

When the Helsinki Final Act was adopted in 1975 to reduce tensions between East and West during the Cold War, few believed in its potential to transform the international security architecture by way of advancing border stability and human rights. Yet, the Helsinki Final Act... MORE

The situation in Kyrgyzstan generated an emotive exchange between Kazakh and Uzbek officials during the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) summit in Astana, on December 1-2, highlighting continuing disagreements between neighbors.While Kazakhstan’s President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, affirmed that the OSCE has done everything... MORE

In late October Kazakhstan’s President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, visited Brussels where he met with Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, the European Council president, Herman Von Rompuy, and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The parties discussed energy and economic relations, Kazakhstan’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security... MORE

In a bid to expand its presence in Central Asia in geopolitical competition with the US and Russia, China seems determined to use every available means ranging from the energy sector to intensifying its military cooperation within the framework of bilateral “strategic partnership” programs. One... MORE

In anticipation of the 2012 presidential elections, political tension is mounting in Kazakhstan. Recent developments suggest President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who celebrated his 70th birthday last July, intends to perpetuate his presidency. In August, Nazarbayev appointed his loyal servant, Nurtai Abykaiev, as head of the National... MORE

The Kazakh-Russian joint working group will soon present a proposal for the construction of the “Eurasia” canal linking the Caspian and Azov seas (www.izvestia.ru, September 28). From expanded trade and transit across Eurasia to new energy projects and maritime access for landlocked Central Asia, the... MORE