Almost two decades ago, Japan adopted the 5+1 approach to dealing with Central Asia, a model other outside players have copied. Now, Japan is increasing its involvement in the region given the Taliban’s recent victory, which has created new diplomatic opportunities but also uncertainties for... MORE

Introduction The 14th Five-Year Plan adopted this past March has reaffirmed the significance of Renminbi (RMB) internationalization in China’s geopolitical ambitions (Gov.cn, March 13). Global RMB proliferation in cross-border trade would enhance China’s domestic financial security, which also makes it a key element of China’s... MORE

Confronted with the new Taliban government in Afghanistan, adjacent Tajikistan has broken from its Central Asian neighbors, which have largely adopted a conciliatory posture, and opted for a more confrontational approach. Speaking on the eve of Tajikistan’s 30th anniversary of independence and one day after... MORE

The recent fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban took many a government by surprise. Kazakhstan—Central Asia’s biggest economy, which has no shared border with Afghanistan but is nonetheless actively involved in the regional security dialogue—was no exception. On August 15, the day the Taliban conquered... MORE

The political crisis in Belarus seems to have entered the stage of unstable equilibrium both inside the country and along its perimeter. A system in this position accelerates away from steadiness if displaced even slightly. As Yauhenii Preiherman, who heads the Minsk Dialogue platform, opined,... MORE

Introduction The Chinese President Xi Jinping has masterminded a major policy shift for the world’s second largest economy by underscoring the imperative of “common prosperity” (共同富裕, Gongtong fuyu). At a recent meeting of the Central Finance and Economic Affairs Commission (CFEC), which he leads, Xi... MORE

While many crypto-currency advocates worldwide promote this sector as the next step in international finance, multiple governments are becoming increasingly leery because of digital currencies’ energy-intensive mining requirements, volatile price swings, potential for fraud, associated criminal issues, and privacy concerns. China, formally the global leader... MORE

The Azerbaijani authorities held a groundbreaking ceremony on July 1 for the planned Alat Free Economic Zone (AFEZ), which will be linked to the new Baku International Seaport also under construction near the village of Alat, around 50 miles south of the capital of Baku... MORE

On May 29, the third Chuulhn Congress convened in Elista, the capital of the Republic of Kalmykia, in southwestern Russia. Nearly two hundred ethnic Kalmyks from the republic, as well as Moscow and Mongolia, took part in the assembly of this highest representative body of... MORE

On July 29, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka appointed Mikhail Kostechko to serve as the new general director of the country’s main oil products trader, Belorusskaya Neftyanaya Kompaniya (BNK), and ordered him to maintain foreign market share regardless of the activity of the “Western scumbags” (President.gov.by,... MORE