The latest top-level meetings of post-Soviet regional groupings, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), pledged to intensify joint efforts to counter security and economic challenges. However, despite continued Russian efforts to sustain the groupings’ unity, the CIS and... MORE

Moscow has again proposed formal multilateral cooperation with NATO. On April 6, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov arrived in Astana to attend the council of foreign ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), ahead of the CSTO summit in Moscow on May 15. Lavrov... MORE

On March 26-27, the Fifth Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan met in Dushanbe, Tajikistan to discuss regional cooperation and efforts to contribute to the stability of Afghanistan. President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan hosted counterparts Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Iran), Hamid Karzai (Afghanistan), and Asif Ali Zardari... MORE

Kyrgyzstan has agreed to retain the US Transit Center at the Manas airport beyond the term of current contract that expires in 2014. At a meeting with James Mattis, commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM) on April 2, Kyrgyzstan’s Defense Council Secretary Busurmankul Tabaldiyev lauded... MORE

Several Eurasian leaders were among the 54 heads of state, deputy prime ministers, or foreign ministers who attended the March 26-27 Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul, South Korea. The main objective of the summit was to prevent non-state actors such as terrorists or criminals from... MORE

As the trials against 37 people for organizing and participating in the December Zhanaozen riots are starting in Aktau on March 27, the Kazakh authorities continue implementing a comprehensive program to mitigate the core reasons for the conflict, prevent social tensions in the future, and... MORE

Within his first 100 days as President, Almazbek Atambayev has made a series of provocative statements regarding the status of both the Russian and US airbases in Kyrgyzstan. Russian media reported that Kremlin officials are frustrated by the President’s statements and have every reason to... MORE

In Soviet times, the Kazakh republic was a testing ground for nuclear explosions, having witnessed more than 400 nuclear blasts at the site in Semipalatinsk. Much has changed since Kazakhstan gained its independence in 1991. It renounced the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal and has... MORE

On March 3, Internet providers in Tajikistan cut local access to Facebook, the social-networking service, along with another four independent news websites. The blocking was ordered by the state-run communications agency, which cited technical reasons. However, media and analysts suggested that the move reflected the... MORE

The criminal trial of 37 persons charged with organizing and participating in the December riots in Zhanaozen and the village of Shetpe will start on March 27 in Aktau, the administrative center of Mangistau region in western Kazakhstan (KazTAG, March 14). The trial will be... MORE