STC Gains Highlight the Need for a Succession Plan for President Hadi Brian M. Perkins Representatives from the Southern Transitional Council (STC) met with Yemeni Prime Minister Maeen Abdulmalik Saeed in Riyadh on August 13 to discuss the creation of a new government that will... MORE

Introduction Successfully realizing the ambitions of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will require the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to guarantee the protection of its workers, businesses, and critical infrastructure in BRI countries. The first part of this short series of articles discussed Beijing’s... MORE

Central Asia is suffering a significant economic downturn precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic that will deepen during the coming months (The Astana Times, May 5; Imf.org, July 2020). The health crisis could also have a profound geopolitical effect in the region. As the United States... MORE

A major scandal has broken out between China, on the one hand, and Tajikistan and Russia, on the other, regarding alleged Chinese claims on the Pamir region. This past month, official outlets of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) repeatedly republished an article by Chinese... MORE

What Will Come of Uzbek and Central Asian Militant Groups Fighting Alongside the Taliban? Brian M. Perkins As the United States has worked to finalize the peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan, persistent questions have lingered as to the degree to which the insurgency... MORE

Despite its relative isolation, post-Soviet Central Asia has not been immune from the COVID-19 coronavirus. In mid-March, after the World Health Organization (WHO) recognized the illness as a global pandemic, the first outbreak appeared in Kazakhstan; several days later, infections were found among the populations... MORE

Author’s note: This article was informed by research and analysis on the PRC’s Beidou satellite program conducted by Pointe Bello, a strategic intelligence and advisory firm. Introduction On June 23, a Long March-3B carrier rocket was successfully launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in... MORE

Introduction On June 15, People’s Republic of China (PRC) Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng (乐玉成) held consultations via video with Turkmenistan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Vepa Hajiyev. During the meeting, two main topics were discussed: the first was reaffirming the strategic nature of bilateral ties between... MORE

Introduction Mongolia is a landlocked country with a population of roughly 3.3 million people, bordering on only two nations, China and Russia. The country’s primary exports are largely minerals and raw materials, making trade with countries other than its immediate neighbors difficult. China’s Belt and... MORE

The COVID-19 pandemic generated many challenges for trans-Eurasian transportation corridors as borders were shut down, factories closed, and supply chains thrown into disarray. The disease outbreak and subsequent quarantine conditions did, however, offer new opportunities to railway container transportation along the Trans-Caspian route, also known... MORE