Kazakhstan plans to introduce new anti-corruption legislation and to rid the judicial system of corruption. But the country has a long way to go to move up from 133rd place in the Corruption Perceptions Index, where it was listed by Transparency International in 2012. Ranked... MORE

With China promoting its own Silk Road vision in Central Asia, it seems that the New Silk Road Initiative promoted by the United States has been eclipsed. Nonetheless, there is still an opportunity for the US to promote much-needed trade relations between Central Asia and... MORE

For Taiwan, November has been marked by a burst of activity on the regional trade front. On November 7, Taiwan signed a free trade agreement with Singapore, a day after signing five smaller economic deals with Japan on e-commerce, pharmaceutical regulation, railways, patent recognition and... MORE

The Ukrainian authorities have seemingly activated a “pause” in Kyiv’s European integration process. President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions, which controls the government and holds an overwhelming plurality in the parliament, blocked all of the opposition’s attempts to vote through European integration draft laws on... MORE

Russia’s Office of the General Prosecutor officially petitioned that Belarus extradite Vladislav Baumgaertner, the Russian potash producer Uraslkalii’s CEO, under arrest in Minsk since August 26. The petition is under consideration. It appears that it was directed to Minsk as early as October 22 but... MORE

While the recent Third Plenary Session of the 18th Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee was expected to unveil major initiatives in economic liberalization, what has struck Chinese and foreign observers most is the weight that the leadership has given to enhancing state security, particularly... MORE

Kazakhstan, as other natural resource-rich countries, faces a difficult task of diversifying its economy and avoiding the resource curse. Indeed, the share of natural resources rents in GDP, which is the sum of oil, natural gas, coal, mineral, and forest rents, in Kazakhstan was 38.2... MORE

With the signing of a new friendship and cooperation treaty at a bilateral summit in Yekaterinburg on November 11, Russia and Kazakhstan aimed to move their relations to a new phase, but tensions related to regional integration evidently remain. Two weeks earlier in Minsk, Kazakhstani... MORE

On November 1, the fourth session of the Kazakhstani-Kyrgyzstani Intergovernmental Council met in Bishkek. The meeting sought to realize the agenda articulated by Kazakhstani Prime Minister Serik Akhmetov, who noted “the mutual desire of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan to address urgent issues on water and the... MORE

At the October 24 summit of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council in Minsk, Kazakhstani President Nursultan Nazarbayev suggested that Turkey may wish to join the Custom Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. According to Nazarbayev, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reached out to him... MORE