The Kazakh parliament's May 13 decision to postpone the request for extending the deployment of the country's peacekeeping battalion (KAZBAT) in Iraq highlights the question over the future deployment of Kazakh forces in Iraq. Of the CIS countries, only Ukraine with its 1,800 troops in... MORE

In an effort to reassure Moscow about its relations with Tajikistan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Talbak Nazarov recently gave an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta where he stated that Dushanbe remains interested in maintaining a Russian military presence in the country. During the interview,... MORE

It seems a marriage made in heaven. Growing energy giant Kazakhstan has tapped into China, the world's biggest market and a booming economy. Kazakhstan and China signed an agreement on May 17 on the construction of the Atasu-Alashankou oil pipeline which will connect western Kazakhstan... MORE

Russia's First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vyacheslav Trubnikov announced on May 12 that Russian border troops are being withdrawn from Tajikistan. Trubnikov's statement is the first high-level confirmation by Moscow of this move. Asked whether it was a result of "American pressure," Trubnikov replied:... MORE

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev will participate in the next presidential elections, which will be held in 2006. Nazarbaev declared his intention to run for another term on May 14, 2004 during a question and answer session broadcast on Kazakh national television. Nazarbaev stressed that "the... MORE

Potentially one of the richest of the former Soviet republics, with natural gas estimated as high as 3.7 trillion yards, Turkmenistan has been unable to exploit its energy reserves because of its geographical isolation and governmental system. Thirteen years after the implosion of the USSR,... MORE

The Tajik newspaper Tojikiston Weekly has cast doubt on Tajikistan's ability to protect its border with Afghanistan on its own. An editorial published in the paper on April 29 claimed that the withdrawal of Russian troops from Tajikistan was not in the latter's interest, as... MORE

According to the headline of an article that appeared on May 6 in the Uzbek newspaper Narodnoe slovo ("People's Word"), "Uzbekistan considers Russia one of its most important economic partners." The publication of an article with such a title in a newspaper that has among... MORE

A series of terrorist acts that took place in late March and early April of this year in Uzbekistan took the lives of twenty-eight people. Sixteen terrorists were also killed in shootouts, and fifteen militants blew themselves up while detonating improvised explosive devices. Approximately fifty... MORE

In his annual address to the national parliament on April 30, Tajik President Imomali Rahmonov said that close strategic relations bind Russia and Tajikistan together. "Tajikistan has not changed its attitude towards its strategic ally over the ten years of our partnership. The Tajik nation... MORE