It is a well-known fact that small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) have been the engine of economic growth of the developed economies and the source for creating most new jobs. In the majority of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development... MORE

While Helmand and other provinces in southern Afghanistan are the center of the Taliban insurgency and receive most media attention in the West, northern Afghanistan’s Takhar province has also come under increasing Taliban and Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) influence since 2010 (taand.com, April 14).... MORE

In early April, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Foreign Minister Khalaf Khalafov told the local press that the legal status of the Caspian Sea was still being debated by the littoral states (Azerbaijan itself as well as Russia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran), which had already discussed the organization... MORE

For several months after Uzbekistan’s de facto exit from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) (see EDM, July 18, 2012)—formalized during the organization’s December 2012 summit in Moscow—Western analysts have speculated about the future shape of Tashkent’s military and security ties. But now, Uzbekistan has... MORE

On April 17, the Kazakhstani government withdrew a proposed bill supporting the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF) from the Majilis, but the foreign ministry was quick to explain that Kazakhstan had no plans to reduce its support for international efforts to stabilize Afghanistan.... MORE

The recent March 30–31 trip to Mongolia of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who has yet to meet with Chinese leaders since assuming office in December 2012, was timed to solidify Japan’s relationship with the most vibrant mining economy in Northeast Asia. This visit has... MORE

Salim Shamsiddinov, a leader of Tajikistan’s ethnic Uzbek community, went missing on March 16. According to Amnesty International, Shamsiddinov’s disappearance could have been a politically motivated abduction. In May of last year, Shamsiddinov was severely beaten by unknown attackers. That attack came after he suggested... MORE

In 2013, two waves of popular discontent rolled over Azerbaijan. The first wave, starting in January and continuing through March, was related to the abuse of soldiers in the military (Hurriyet Daily News, March 11). The second wave, beginning on March 31, was related to... MORE

On April 3, Kyrgyzstan’s President Almazbek Atambayev made a speech before the students of the Kyrgyz State Technical University in Bishkek. While he addressed a number of issues related to both the domestic and foreign politics of the Central Asian republic, Atambayev particularly stressed the... MORE

Kazakhstan has taken steps to protect and counteract any potential terrorist threat to the establishment of a nuclear fuel bank, though authorities continue to express concern about a wider and non-specific terrorist threat within the country. On April 4, Foreign Minister Erlan Idrisov stressed that... MORE