Central Asia took its first steps toward regional integration soon after independence in the region in 1991. Yet, for several reasons, this integration failed. Even so, with the change in leadership in Uzbekistan in 2016, attempts to improve regional cooperation have been revived, this time... MORE

More than half of the estimated 700,000 Russians who have fled since Russian President Vladimir Putin declared partial mobilization on September 21 have mainly gone to four countries in Central Asia—Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan—among the relatively few places Russians can still enter freely without... MORE

On September 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan, declared Pakistan as one of Moscow’s primary partners in South Asia. As the Russian leader put it,... MORE

Samarkand did not go well for Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit hosted by Uzbekistan in the ancient city gathered many leaders of various Eurasian states, from Belarus to Mongolia. But it was Putin’s meeting with Chinese Chairman (the title Putin... MORE

On November 12, 2021, at the eighth (and final) summit of the Turkic Council in Istanbul, Turkey, the group’s name was changed to the Organization of Turkic States (OTS) and Turkmenistan was admitted as an observer state (Turkkon.org, accessed July 20). Simultaneously, the document “View... MORE

On July 28–29, Tashkent hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) Council of Foreign Ministers. This was the final rehearsal before the SCO summit scheduled to take place later this year in Uzbekistan’s historic city of Samarkand on September 15–16. The foreign ministers of all member... MORE

Since its seizure of power in August 2021, the Taliban has repeatedly asserted that it accomplished something the Ashraf Ghani administration could never do: provide nationwide security and eliminate regional transnational terror threats, the latter a topic of profound interest to Afghanistan’s neighbors, including China,... MORE

On June 21, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid a two-day official visit to Uzbekistan, where he met with his counterpart, Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev. Almost 20 documents, including a declaration on deepening strategic partnership and expanding comprehensive cooperation, were signed by the two delegations during... MORE

Massive protests that began earlier this month in the Republic of Karakalpakstan in northwest Uzbekistan have now quieted down. In early July 2022, protestors took to the streets railing against Tashkent’s plan to remove provisions from the Constitution of Uzbekistan that allow Karakalpaks to declare... MORE

On 20 June, Uzbekistani President Shavkat Mirziyoyev chaired a meeting dedicated to changes and amendments to the national constitution. After dwelling on the reforms related to strengthening the protection of human rights and improving state administrative functions, President Mirziyoyev went on to propose that several... MORE