Latest Articles about Central Asia
CHINESE NEED RUSSIAN OIL TO FILL PIPELINE FROM KAZAKHSTAN
Mesmerized by the huge hydrocarbon export opportunities offered by China's rapidly developing Xinjiang province, last year Kazakhstan began building the Atasu-Alashankou oil pipeline to connect western China with oilfields in Aktobe region, western Kazakhstan. The daunting adventure, hailed as the project of the century in... MORE
UZBEKISTAN: ENTER RUSSIA
The alliance treaty of Russia and Uzbekistan, signed on November 14 in Moscow, painfully illustrates Washington's declining plausibility as a buttress of security and stability in Central Asian perceptions, particularly that of the region's strategic linchpin country Uzbekistan. Those perceptions are traceable to U.S. policy... MORE
UZBEKISTAN: EXIT AMERICA
Tashkent's now-official switch of alliances completes the reversal of a cycle that had begun with Uzbekistan's attendance at NATO's 1999 Washington summit, its abandonment of the CIS Collective Security Treaty that same year, and accession to the U.S.-supported GUAM (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) group. Uzbekistan... MORE
PUTIN PLEDGES TO BACK UP KARIMOV IN A CRISIS
Russia and Uzbekistan have formally signed a new military alliance agreement with far-reaching consequences for bilateral relations between the two states and for Central Asia. Russian President Vladimir Putin invited Uzbek President Islam Karimov to Moscow in order to sign the treaty on November 14.... MORE
RUSSIA’S WARMING TOWARD UZBEKISTAN MAY DAMAGE RELATIONS WITH THE WEST
As the Kremlin inked an alliance with Uzbekistan this week, the European Union banned arms sales to Tashkent and imposed visa restrictions on top Uzbek officials. While Russia may have scored a geopolitical victory in the short term, it will likely lose in the long... MORE
COLLECTIVE SECURITY GROUP SEEKS TO ESTABLISH ITS IDENTITY, AVOID MERGERS
Russia's efforts to promote a regional military bloc with five Soviet successor states have been stymied by NATO's refusal to treat the grouping as an equal partner. Officially, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) seeks to ensure the security and territorial integrity of its member... MORE
NGOs WANT KYRGYZ TO BE THE SOLE STATE LANGUAGE OF KYRGYZSTAN
Several days before Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev presented the draft law "On the Introduction of Changes and Additions to the Constitution of the Kyrgyz Republic" for public discussion, a number of local national movements raised the question of elevating the status of the Kyrgyz language... MORE
AS BAKIYEV LOOSES SUPPORT, KULOV GAINS POPULARITY
A series of contradictory statements about international politics, delayed responses to domestic crises, and awkward jokes about his own political views have visibly harmed Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his political image at home. However, amid growing disappointment with Bakiyev, Prime Minister Felix Kulov is... MORE
ABIZAID PROMISES NO REPEAT OF GREAT GAME IN CENTRAL ASIA
Visiting Kazakhstan on November 3, General John Abizaid, Chief of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), reassured his hosts that Washington has no plans to repeat the mistakes of the 19th century Great Game in the region. His comments were also intended to allay fears in many... MORE
NAZARBAYEV LEADING PRE-ELECTION POLLS IN KAZAKHSTAN
With less than a month remaining before election day, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his advisors are certainly following the November 6 parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. While separated geographically by thousands of miles, the two countries share political systems rooted in nepotism and family clan... MORE