![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-central-asia.jpg)
Latest Articles about Turkmenistan
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Confucius-Institute-at-Kazakh-National-University-640x427.jpg)
China’s ‘Soft Power’ in Central Asia Both More and Less than It Appears
From one perspective, China has enormous “soft power” in Central Asia, the ability, as Joseph Nye defined it (Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, New York, 1990), “to persuade others to do what it wants without force or coercion.” It can and... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AFP-640x367.jpg)
A Year in Review: Uzbekistan Pursues Liberalization at Home, Neighborly Relations Abroad
When Uzbekistanis elected Shavkat Mirziyoyev as their president on December 4, 2016, they entered 2017 with a healthy dose of skepticism that real change would follow. Indeed, during his first public address as the interim head of state, Mirziyoyev, previous president Islam Karimov’s prime minister... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Emomali-Rahmon-Shavkat-Mirziyaev-Nursultan-Nazarbaev-EDM-January-11-2018-640x360.jpg)
A Year in Review: More Problems, More Reforms, More Cooperation for Central Asia in 2017
Central Asia in 2017 recalls Charles Dickens’ observation in A Tale of Two Cities: it was truly the best of times, if far from perfect, and the worst of times, if far from disastrous. And depending on whether one focuses on the problems the five... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Embassy-of-Turkey-in-Ashgabat-640x364.jpg)
Lapis Lazuli: A New Transit Corridor to Link Asia and Europe via the South Caucasus
Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey signed a new agreement dedicated to launching the Lapis Lazuli transit corridor during a pentalateral meeting at the seventh Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA), held on November 15, in Ashgabat (Azernews, November 15). The finalized document was... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Turkish-train-EDM-November-17-2017-640x426.jpg)
Controversial Railway Project Consolidates China’s Foothold in Central Asia
On November 5, a cargo train from Kokshetau, North Kazakhstan, carrying 30 containers of wheat, arrived in the Turkish harbor city of Mersin, on the Mediterranean coast. What made this event so notable was that this was the first train from Kazakhstan to use the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/BTK-EDM-October-16-2017-640x426.jpg)
Will the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars Railway Become Uzbekistan’s New Connection to Europe?
On September 27, the head of Azerbaijani Railways Company, Javid Gurbanov, along with his Georgian and Turkish counterparts, Mamuka Bakhtadze and Ahmad Arslan, respectively, attended the first test run by a passenger train along a section of the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK) railway, from the Georgian capital... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Nursultan-Nazarbayev-and-Shavkat-Mirziyaev-Tashkent-September-2017-EDM-October-6-2017-640x382.jpg)
Closer Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan Ties Not Enough to Resolve Broader Regional Woes
The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, paid an official visit to Uzbekistan in mid-September, highlighting improving relations between Central Asia’s two largest states. There, he met with his Uzbekistani counterpart, Shavkat Mirziyaev, for the sixth time since the latter took office last December, following the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Caspian-Sea-EDM-September-26-2017-640x450.jpg)
Russian Portion of Caspian May Dry up This Century, Threatening Moscow’s Interests
Many countries around the world are now threatened by rising sea levels in coastal areas as a result of climate change and the melting of the polar ice caps. Russia is experiencing such a scenario in the Arctic. But it is also facing another serious... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/OBOR-train-EDM-June-6-2017-640x360.jpg)
One Belt, One Road: Russian Dreams Exceed Reality
Russian President Vladimir Putin made another trip to China last month (May 14–15) to address the Belt and Road Forum. But his speech at the summit’s opening highlighted that Russia and China ascribe completely different meaning to Beijing’s ambitious One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative.... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Astrakhan-port-EDM-May-23-2017-640x427.jpg)
Collapse of Russian Shipping in the Caspian Puts Moscow’s Regional Strategy at Risk
Since the start of 2017, the amount of cargo passing through Russian ports on the Caspian Sea has fallen, compared to last year, by 48.4 percent to only 1.1 million tons, according to the Russian Ports Association. This figure is striking given that Russian ports... MORE