Latest Articles about Central Asia

TAJIKISTAN CAUTIOUS ON TIES WITH WESTERN MILITARIES

There are growing signs of unease within Tajikistan’s Ministry of Defense over relations with Western militaries. While these ties are valued and needed in order to assist in reforming key military infrastructure, Tajik officials are becoming increasingly cautious regarding Western security-assistance ties. The Tajik Ministry... MORE

KYRGYZ NGOs WARN ABOUT RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROBLEM

This year more and more Kyrgyz mass media outlets and NGOs are urging the Kyrgyz government to address the problem of radioactive waste left after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the March 23 Eurasian Economic Community meeting in Minsk, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev... MORE

AMENDMENTS TO KAZAKH MEDIA LAW DRAW WESTERN CRITICISM

This year Kazakhstan's Journalists Day was marked by a massive protest rally in Almaty on June 24. The rally was unprecedented in scale and united almost all media outlets regardless their political views. The demonstration was organized by the Union of Journalists of Kazakhstan, the... MORE

NAZARBAYEV’S CASPIAN SECURITY DEALS: WHAT CAN MOSCOW OFFER?

Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev has placed Caspian security high on his agenda, not only as a means of promoting foreign assistance programs but also in generating further help from Moscow. On June 21 a three-day joint special exercise involving Kazakhstan and Russia, ended in the... MORE

UZBEKISTAN ACCEDES TO COLLECTIVE SECURITY TREATY ORGANIZATION

Uzbek President Islam Karimov joined the presidents of the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s member countries -- Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan -- in Minsk on June 23 for a meeting of the CSTO’s top political body, the Collective Security Council. At the meeting,... MORE

ENERGY SECURITY DOMINATES SUMMER SUMMIT SCHEDULE

In mid-June, the heads of one North American, some Eurasian, and most European states travel non-stop, seeking to patch holes in the laboriously spun networks of cooperation. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week shook hands in the Kremlin with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and... MORE