On a visit to Astana on October 5, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced to the press in a conspicuously diplomatic tone that the United States had no intention of undermining Russian interests in Central Asia or drawing Kazakhstan into the American sphere of... MORE

According to the results of opinion poll conducted by 24.kg news agency in Kyrgyzstan, majority of respondents (46 percent) see Russia as a genuine ally, while the United States scored less than 4 percent (www.24.kg , October 8). The United State earned the most (37... MORE

Kazakhstan and Russia are in the final stages of planning large-scale training of their air defense forces. Shield-2008 will be held in western Kazakhstan as a joint air defense exercise, intended to deter “air raids and missile attacks” on either country. According to Abay Tasbulatov,... MORE

With the resignation of Mayor General Ismail Isakov from the position of Security Council Secretary earlier this week, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev once again showed that he wants loyal politicians in key government offices, even at the cost of inefficiency. Isakov is a widely respected... MORE

On October 13 and 14 in Ashgabat, the British consultancy company Gaffney, Cline & Associates (GCA) presented the first results of its audit of Turkmen gas reserves. According to its research, the South Yoloten-Osman deposits, situated in the south-east of the country, contain four trillion... MORE

Since the death of "Turkmenbashi" President for life Saparmurat Niyazov on December 21, 2006, Western governments and energy companies have been falling over themselves to be in on the development of Turkmenistan's vast natural gas reserves, estimated to be the fourth or fifth largest in... MORE

On October 5 Kyrgyzstan held local government elections in which 491 seats were contested. The competition was most fierce, with the Chair of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Klara Kabilova scandalously resigning just days before the vote (see EDM, October 1). Both local and international... MORE

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev used the annual meeting of border regions of Kazakhstan and Russia in Aktobe (western Kazakhstan) on September 22 to confer with Kazak President Nursultan Nazarbayev, one of the Kremlin’s few remaining allies in its tense relations with the West. Both sides... MORE

While Western companies, particularly energy ones, have taken a pummeling recently in the former Soviet space, one country remains a possible el Dorado for foreign investment. Mining companies eyeing Mongolia as one of the world's last largely untapped frontiers have watched for years as the... MORE