On April 15 Russian border guards began their long-awaited withdrawal from the "Moskva" patrolled areas of the Tajik-Afghan border, handing over control of the sensitive area to Tajikistani border units. Despite Russia's apparent step back from its well-established role in Tajik border security, Moscow will... MORE

Kazakhstan has opened a new anti-terrorist training center in Almaty designed to enhance the sophistication and professionalism of some of its most elite anti-terrorist personnel. Located within the existing Police Training Academy, the center will eventually provide courses in anti-terrorist techniques for police officers and... MORE

With its already enormous resources in the Caspian region, Kazakhstan's oil and gas sector has begun to turns its attention toward China's rapidly developing Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. On April 4, the Committee for Sino-Kazakh Energy Cooperation held its inaugural meeting in Astana. The deputy... MORE

On April 15 in Ashgabat, Gazprom Chairman Alexei Miller satisfied Turkmenistan's President Saparmurat Niyazov's demand to switch to all-cash payments for Turkmen gas delivered to Russia. In return for this concession, Turkmenistan seems set to resume the deliveries, which it halted on January 1, 2005,... MORE

In the last days of March, members of the banned Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DCK) opposition party announced that they intended to establish a new party, "Alga, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan!" ("Forward, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan!") The founders signed a statement declaring that the new... MORE

During his presidency, Kyrgyz leader Askar Akayev had secured guarantees of immunity for himself and members of his family by means of two referenda. Akayev officially resigned on April 3, but his departure did not become official until it was accepted by the Kyrgyz parliament... MORE

China invested considerable economic, political, and military resources in Kyrgyzstan, so it is no surprise that Beijing has been disconcerted by the rapid fall of the Akayev regime and the still-uncertain political evolution of the new regime. Not only did China provide considerable military and... MORE

From April 4 to 6 Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov visited New Delhi to conduct negotiations with the Indian government and to sign 12 agreements with India. These accords ranged over such diverse fields as defense, education, trade, industry, tourism, and the struggle against terrorism. But... MORE

Russia's military presence in Central Asia has come into focus again through its participation in the Rubezh 2005 military exercises involving participants from the Commonwealth of Independent States. Although in itself there is nothing unusual about this exercise, the involvement of Russian air force units... MORE

Russia has been courting Turkmenistan's authoritarian regime in an apparent attempt to secure its energy interests in the gas-rich Central Asian state. However, the pursuit has been dealt a number of setbacks recently. In the wake of regime change in Kyrgyzstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin... MORE