On June 13–14, Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev arrived in Tashkent for a summit with his Uzbekistani counterpart Islam Karimov. Although media coverage of this meeting differed in both countries, the summit witnessed the signing of a “strategic partnership” between Astana and Tashkent. Equally, despite the... MORE

The issue of power succession in Uzbekistan gained momentum as a serious investigation has been launched in Sweden against Gulnara Karimova, the 40-year old daughter of Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov. She is suspected of receiving a $320 million bribe, paid to her company Takilant Limited... MORE

That the ethnic and political borders in Central Asia do not correspond is widely recognized; but the region’s nine ethnic exclaves, territories within the borders of one country that are ethnically distinct and politically part of a neighboring state, has attracted little attention in the... 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

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

Kazakhstan’s mediation role in Iran, which resumes today, is not unique. Astana has striven to resolve conflicts throughout its Eurasian neighborhood.  To this end, at the end of March, Kazakhstani Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov visited Tajikistan and Uzbekistan to engage in some shuttle diplomacy to... MORE

A shootout occurred on March 21, on the border of Afghanistan and Tajikistan, between armed Afghans and residents of the Shuroabad District (in southwestern Tajikistan). Four people died. According to local residents, three armed Afghan smugglers entered Dekhi Qozi village. They took four local residents... MORE

The drawdown of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) combat forces from Afghanistan by 2014 will limit the future potential of the Northern Distribution Network (NDN). Moreover, the withdrawal has left defense planning staffs among International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) members trying to resolve the conundrum... MORE

Over the past several years, countries participating in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan diversified their air and ground lines of communications (LOCs) to transport mostly non-lethal equipment and supplies to Afghanistan through the Northern Distribution Network (NDN). Since then, individual North Atlantic... MORE

Already unstable relations between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan worsened this week. Violence had erupted in early January 2013 in the Uzbekistani enclave of Sokh located inside Kyrgyzstan that resulted in property damage and hostages being taking. Since January 7, Bishkek continues to block access to Uzbekistan’s... MORE