It takes three separate diplomatic efforts for three countries to sign three bilateral strategic partnership agreements. That is exactly what happened over the past four years in Central Asia: first Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan signed a strategic partnership in June 2013; then Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan concluded... MORE

Moscow’s anxieties about Central Asia and its position there are becoming increasingly visible. And renewed charges of Russian imperial ambitions in the region and elsewhere clearly sting the Kremlin. Thus, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov felt obliged to denounce “allegations” about his country’s imperial ambitions, claiming,... MORE

Kyrgyzstan will hold a referendum, on December 11, on controversial constitutional changes that have been harshly criticized by opponents (Azattyk.kg, Kloop.kg, Knews.kg, November 8). The country, which faces a presidential election in 2017, adopted the current constitution in June 2010, after the revolution that toppled... MORE

The following political landscape piece is a part of Eurasia Daily Monitor’s special quarterly series of strategic assessments of developments across Eurasia. These pieces examine recent important developments and trends in the region, particularly since this past summer, and anticipate where those trend lines may... MORE

Uzbekistan’s diplomats may never have been quite as busy as Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov has been in just the past several weeks. In addition to attending or hosting a series of routine meetings, Kamilov has also become a goodwill ambassador for Uzbekistan’s interim president, Prime... MORE

On October 8, both the United Kingdom’s and United States’ embassies in Bishkek issued warnings about an increased threat of a terrorist attack on Kyrgyzstan sometime that month. The suspected attack, if it materialized, was supposed to possibly involving the kidnapping and hostage taking of... MORE

Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan became embroiled in a fresh standoff over the disputed mountain Ungar-Too, located on the border. The latest incident once more highlighted the need for rapid and radical efforts to improve bilateral relations and eliminate tensions between the two neighboring countries. On August... MORE

The death of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov at 78 has focused attention on the issue of generational change both past and present across post-Soviet Central Asia. Given the central role played by these five republics’ presidents in the aftermath of the Soviet Union, that is... MORE

Since the start of the Syrian war in 2011, Central Asians have featured prominently among the anti-government militants. But until June 2016, as far as Central Asia was concerned, the impact of the war was contained almost entirely to Syria and Iraq and remote parts... MORE

The fifteenth meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) took place on June 23–24, in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Participation in these annual meetings has been growing over the past several years and was even bigger this time as negotiations for admitting... MORE