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Latest Articles about Central Asia
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Kazakhstan Pushes For Integration With the Global Economy
For Kazakhstan May was full of economically and geopolitically significant developments worth exploring in the national, regional, and global contexts. The country hosted the 4th Economic Forum in Astana on May 3 – 4, designed to assess economic challenges facing the world economy and explore... MORE
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Kyrgyzstan: One Year Passes After The Osh Violence
One year after the four-day ethnic violence in Osh, the situation on the ground remains stable, but tense. There is no clear explanation yet as to why the conflict had spread and whether it was a predominantly top-down or bottom-up mobilization of violence. Although President... MORE
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The Future Of The Turkmen Opposition In Exile
At a time when protesters are taking down the governments of long-serving authoritarian rulers in Middle Eastern and North African countries, opposition movements in the former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan and Armenia are also taking their struggle to the streets in their respective countries to... MORE
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Will Russia’s Fuel Shortages Stimulate Energy Cooperation within Central Asia?
Russia, one of the world’s leading energy producers and exporters, has recently announced its decision to significantly increase customs duties on the fuel it sells abroad starting on May 1. Viewed as a temporary measure to rectify the country’s domestic fuel deficit and rising inflation... MORE
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Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament Exploits State Symbols, Avoids Hard Questions
In an effort to boost their own popularity, Kyrgyz Members of Parliament (MPs) are increasingly resorting to symbolic politics. To date, MPs have suggested changing the country’s flag, national anthem, and even the titles of local government officials. Altering state symbols has turned into a... MORE
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Kyrgyz Parliament Bans Kiljunen
On May 26, the Kyrgyz parliament voted to declare Finish diplomat Kimmo Kiljunen and leader of the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission’s (KIC) investigation as persona non grata. By doing so, 95 MPs (out of 120) who voted for the resolution, have demonstrated an incapacity to handle... MORE
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Afghanistan: NATO Out, SCO In?
Next month, Afghanistan may gain observer status in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The organization considers this to be an appropriate step forward given that the Afghan people “gradually take over the responsibility for all key areas of life in the country, including ensuring the... MORE
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The CSTO Seeks Stronger Security Arrangements
The Russian-led security alliance, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, has pledged to face security challenges in Central Asia by boosting military cooperation. Russian military officials urged the grouping to boost their defense ties. The... MORE
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Chinese Pawns on the Kazakh Political Chessboard: Masimov Versus Kulibayev?
Although Nursultan Nazarbayev, during his election campaign vowed to stay at the helm as long as his health permits, in the corridors of power the undercurrent wrangling for the crown of the 70 year old ruler seems to be already underway. Nazarbayev, who has no... MORE
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Russia Pressures Kazakhstan’s Ties With Georgia
Kazakhstan is increasingly uncomfortable within the Customs Union with Belarus and Russia due to the constant attempts by the Kremlin to politicize the structure originally intended to boost trade relations and ensure free movement of citizens, goods and capital within the union. Recently, Grigoriy Onishenko... MORE