The European Union–backed Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project continues to gain traction against the Moscow-led Turkish Stream natural gas pipeline initiative. The game-changer in the Euro-Russian “battle” for pipelines and energy hubs could be the participation of the major oil and gas producers Iran and... MORE

In early July, Kazakh media reported on a new political initiative announced by a group of young activists headed by Olesya Khalabuzar (Informburo.kz, July 8). The group proposed the creation of a political party under the name “Spravedlivost” (“Justice”). This “new left” project seeks to... MORE

On July 6, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off his eight-day tour of Central Asia, visiting the region for the first time since taking office last May. The first country he arrived in was Uzbekistan. “I started my trip from here to underline the... MORE

Kazakhstan plans to expand its shipping fleet on the Caspian Sea and to acquire, for the first time, a blue-water one (Np.kz, July 23). Its maritime strategy is aimed to allow this Caspian-littoral Central Asian republic both to take advantage of the cost-savings of ship... MORE

In May 2015, missing Tajikistan police commander Colonel Gulmurod Halimov appeared in an Islamic State video to announce his defection to the group. While his defection caused embarrassment in Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe, given the regime’s repressive religious policy, this development was also perhaps unsurprising. A... MORE

Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov paid his first official visit to Georgia on July 2–3. The most important topics of the meeting between Berdimuhamedov and his Georgian counterpart, Giorgi Margvelashvili, included cooperation in the energy and transportation spheres. During the visit, President Berdimuhamedov reaffirmed that Turkmenistan... MORE

Tajikistan’s ethno-regional clans have played a key role in the political life of this Central Asian republic since 1991. These clans have their roots not so much in ancient and archaic forms of social organization but in the way in which Moscow’s nationality policies intentionally... MORE

The Mongolian Armed Forces (MAF), working with the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM) and the US government’s Global Peace Operations Initiative (GPOI) program, hosted their annual multinational exercise known as Khaan Quest 2015, on June 20–July 1. The exercise was held at the 311th Army... MORE

On July 8, Turkmenistan’s Ministry of Oil and Gas noted that Russian state natural gas company Gazprom had failed to pay for imports since the beginning of the year, stating, “The Russian company OAO Gazprom has failed to pay under its contracts for buying and... MORE

On June 10, Kazakhstan and the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced they had reached an agreement for Kazakhstan’s accession to the trade body, bringing an end to an almost 20-year negotiation process that began when the Central Asian republic applied in January 1996 (Wto.org, June... MORE