Relations between Iran and the Republic of Azerbaijan underwent acute conflict and tension in September–October 2021. However, since mid-October, the two countries have endeavored to manage the frictions and reduce the disagreements in their relationship. Recently, on January 26, 2022, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov... MORE

Since consolidating power on January 5, when he assumed the chairmanship of the Security Council instead of Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstani President Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev has generated unprecedented popular expectations for change. Tokayev is closely associated with the Nazarbayev regime (Nazarbayev was president of Kazakhstan from 1990... MORE

This month’s crisis in Kazakhstan, triggered by gas fuel price rises, came as a massive surprise for the Uzbekistani political elites. When the protests erupted in the neighboring country, almost all of Uzbekistan’s political establishment, including President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, were still on New Year’s vacation... MORE

Russia’s peacekeeping intervention with four minor allies in Kazakhstan (January 6 through January 19—see Part One in EDM, January 19, 2022) brings to six the number of Russian operations labeled as “peacekeeping” in Russia’s claimed sphere of influence from 1992 to date. Compared with the... MORE

Kazakhstan faced the worst civil unrest since its independence, when popular protests turned violent and nearly caused state collapse in early January. Long perceived as the most stable and economically advanced state in Central Asia, the oil-rich country that attracted billions of foreign investments over the... MORE

Moscow was alarmed by the protests in Kazakhstan earlier this month primarily because they represented an attack of the population against the regime, something President Vladimir Putin has always sought to block lest it inspire people in the Russian Federation. But his concerns on that... MORE

The inaugural week of the new year ushered in a period of unprecedented instability for Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s largest economy. The country has long been considered an island of stability in a chronically unstable region where, for instance, neighboring Kyrgyzstan went through three revolutions since... MORE

Since the start of 2022, two unexpected “black swan” events have indirectly altered last year’s calculus regarding the expected evolution of the Belarusian political crisis. First, Belarus joined the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization’s (CSTO) intervention in Kazakhstan on January 5, 2022. Second, Belarusian potassium... MORE

From January 6 through January 19, Russia and its allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) conducted a successful stabilization mission in Kazakhstan, at the latter country’s urgent request. The organization’s member states (Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan) may, under their treaty, undertake... MORE

On January 5, in response to the then-rapidly worsening national crisis in Kazakhstan, which was triggered by increased fuel prices resulting in popular protests sweeping the country, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev formally requested an intervention by the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The following day, the... MORE