Latest Articles about Central Asia
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Forced Into Customs Union
On October 19, members of the Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC) announced in St. Petersburg that both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are eligible to join the Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan Customs Union (www.24.kg, October 19).Although the Customs Union positions itself as an economic alignment, it has long acquired political significance.... MORE
Tajikistan Prefers American Over Russian Assistance For Border Management
Visiting Tajikistan on October 22-23, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised US assistance for improving the country’s border management and anti-drug enforcement, in view of growing instability in neighboring Afghanistan. Such assistance, beyond its intrinsic value, could also remove the rationale behind Moscow’s twin proposals:... MORE
Putin Uses Symbols of Soviet Power to Announce Idea of Eurasian Union
On October 3, 2011, Vladimir Putin made headlines by putting forward the idea of a Eurasian Union including several post-Soviet states. This was his first foreign policy initiative since the announcement of his candidacy for a third mandate, made at the United Russia Congress at... MORE
Kazakhstan Imposes Tougher Measures to Stem the Rise of Religious Extremism
On October 6, the regional court of Aktobe in western Kazakhstan announced verdicts on four members of a terrorist gang. The men were accused of killing two policemen and a special task force officer during shootouts between a group of armed local residents and the... MORE
Ashgabat Unimpressed By Moscow’s Objections On Trans-Caspian Pipeline
The updated estimates of Turkmenistan’s vast gas reserves (see EDM, October 20) and the European Commission’s support for a trans-Caspian pipeline to Europe are unwelcome by Moscow. On October 14, President Dmitry Medvedev chaired a special meeting of Russia’s Security Council on Russia-EU relations in... MORE
Elections In Kyrgyzstan: Atambayev Wants Outright Victory In the First Round
Two weeks before the presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan the question many in the country ask is whether there will be a second round of voting. The frontrunner, Prime Minister Almazabek Atambayev, certainly hopes to secure victory during the first round on October 30.Although Kyrgyzstan has... MORE
New Turkmen Gas Reserve Estimates Confirm Vast Export Potential
By the latest estimates, Turkmenistan’s potential gas reserves are even larger than previously thought, encouraging the European Union to tap into this potential, and motivating Ashgabat to cooperate with Brussels and Baku on a trans-Caspian pipeline bound for Europe despite Moscow’s opposition.On October 11 in... MORE
India Seeks To Project Power In and Out of Central Asia
When the British-Russian rivalry was starting in Central Asia about two centuries ago, few could have predicted that India – a British platform of that geopolitical struggle – would rise, as a sovereign power, to project influence in the very region once vied over by... MORE
China’s European Satellite Launch Sets New Milestones; South Africa-China Deals Court Controversy; Putin Visits Beijing; New Sino-Kazakh Pipeline Deal Signed
China’s European Satellite Launch Sets New Milestones On October 7, a Chinese Long March-3 rocket blasted off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Sichuan Province, delivering a French Eutelsat communications satellite into orbit. This marked the first Chinese launch of a Western communications satellite since the... MORE
Kazakhstan Adopts a Controversial Religious Law
On September 29, Kazakhstan’s upper house of parliament passed a new controversial law on religious activities and religious organizations intended to curb the spread of radical Islam in the country. The bill was approved speedily after a wave of terrorist attacks swept western Kazakhstan during... MORE