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Latest Articles about Central Asia
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Tajikistan’s Transportation Challenge: Ending Dependency On Uzbek Transit Routes
As relations between Dushanbe and Tashkent have become increasingly strained due to multiple factors, including water resources and energy supplies, Tajikistan is trying to end its reliance on Uzbekistan’s highways and railroads. Tashkent has closed most of the Soviet-era highways linking the countries, and Tajikistan’s... MORE
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Kazakhstan Among the 50 Best Countries For Doing Business, But Cross-Border Trade Barriers Remain
Kazakhstan has been ranked among the top 50 world economies in the Doing Business 2012 report, compiled by the World Bank and its private-sector lender the International Finance Corp (i-news.kz, October 20). The ranking places Kazakhstan 47th among 183 countries in a study assessing business... MORE
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Russia and Kazakhstan Prioritize Multilateral Cooperation
In an apparent departure from earlier promises to develop their bilateral energy partnership, Russian and Kazakh leaders plan to re-focus on multilateral cooperation within the Customs Union and the Common Economic Space (CES).On October 22, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Kazakh counterpart Nursultan Nazarbayev... MORE
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After Winning Elections Atambayev Focuses On the US Transit Center
Kyrgyzstan’s new president-elect Almazbek Atambayev has once again hinted that he wants the US Transit Center at Manas out of Kyrgyzstan by the time coalition forces leave Afghanistan. “In 2014 the United States will have to withdraw its military base from the ‘Manas’ international airport,”... MORE
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Arson Attack Targets Prominent Tajik Cleric’s Cotton Plant
Arson is believed to be the cause of a fire on October 24 that damaged a cotton-processing plant belonging to Hoji Akbar Turajonzoda, a prominent Tajik religious and political figure, in the town of Vahdat, some 30 kilometers east of the Tajik capital Dushanbe. The... MORE
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Radical Islam Takes a Front Seat In Central Asia
Kazakhstan’s President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, signed a tough religious law on October 13, which, among other aspects, bans prayer rooms in state buildings and requires re-registration of all religious organizations and missionary activities. The law, which also makes the building of new places of worship subject... MORE
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Russian And Foreign TV Censored During Election Period In Kyrgyzstan
Kyrgyzstan’s voters will choose their next president on October 30. Contrary to earlier expectations, the campaign period was rather orderly and uneventful. Both international and local observers have so far concluded that all competing candidates had equal access to the media and were able to... MORE
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Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Forced Into Customs Union
On October 19, members of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) announced in St. Petersburg that both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are eligible to join the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union (www.24.kg, October 19).Although the Customs Union positions itself as an economic alignment, it has long acquired political significance.... MORE
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Tajikistan Prefers American Over Russian Assistance For Border Management
Visiting Tajikistan on October 22-23, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised US assistance for improving the country’s border management and anti-drug enforcement, in view of growing instability in neighboring Afghanistan. Such assistance, beyond its intrinsic value, could also remove the rationale behind Moscow’s twin proposals:... MORE
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Putin Uses Symbols of Soviet Power to Announce Idea of Eurasian Union
On October 3, 2011, Vladimir Putin made headlines by putting forward the idea of a Eurasian Union including several post-Soviet states. This was his first foreign policy initiative since the announcement of his candidacy for a third mandate, made at the United Russia Congress at... MORE