Latest Articles about Central Asia

Afghanistan’s Resurgent Taliban

Though Afghanistan today faces many threats, the greatest is that from Islamist extremists inside the country as well as those sheltering in the neighboring provinces of Pakistan. The most recent period has seen adversaries of the Karzai government and the US regroup their main forces.... MORE

Iran And Afghanistan: Hedging Bets

As with all of its foreign policy issues, Iran is hedging its bets in Afghanistan. Driving Tehran's policy is its obsession with the United States and anxieties about how Washington's actions will impinge on Iran's national interests. This is all the more crucial for Iran... MORE

KYRGYZ ACTING PRESIDENT OUTLINES REFORM PLANS

Addressing the country on television on April 30, Kyrgyzstan's acting president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, outlined a comprehensive program of constitutional and political changes to be achieved in the short and medium terms. He spoke of a transitional period of several years during which the country must... MORE

KYRGYZSTAN’S NORTH-SOUTH AXIS SHIFTS AHEAD OF ELECTIONS

Worries about Kyrgyzstan's north-south divide have increased following Felix Kulov's April 25 announcement of his intention to run for the presidency. Although there are ten potential presidential candidates, acting president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Kulov will be the two major competitors in the elections scheduled for... MORE

KAZAKHSTAN AND TURKEY SEARCH FOR COMMON GROUND

In the early 1990s, many policymakers in Kazakhstan and in Turkey were euphoric about the prospects of intense cooperation between ethnically related nations that had for decades been divided by an ideological iron curtain. Turkey, hoping to expand its influence in Russia-dominated but Turkic-speaking Central... MORE

KAZAKHSTAN MOVES CLOSER TOWARDS FUTURE NATO INTEGRATION

Kazakhstan has moved significantly nearer its ambition to gain closer and more effective relations with the NATO Alliance. Astana has decided to abandon its long-term reliance upon dated Soviet munitions and Russian replacements. Instead, it will now prioritize the manufacture of NATO-standard ammunition for its... MORE

BUSINESS AS USUAL: ASTANA AND BISHKEK RESTORE OLD TIES

Kyrgyzstan's acting president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, visited Almaty on April 22. Despite the ceremonial pleasantries, Bakiyev's reception was not nearly as pompous and cordial as the one given to Kyrgyzstan's toppled president, Askar Akayev, during his first visit in 1997. Instead, Bakiyev seemed to be the... MORE

KAZAKHSTAN’S GOVERNMENT COURTS THE MEDIA

Around 500 policymakers and journalists from across the globe gathered in Almaty on April 21 for the Eurasian Media Forum. Kazakhstan's state officials tout the annual event as a unique opportunity to promote cross-cultural dialogue among civilizations. State-controlled media predictably offered exceptionally positive assessments of... MORE

EXTENT OF AKAYEV REGIME CORRUPTION BECOMING CLEARER

Representatives from Kyrgyzstan's interim government and mass media are gradually revealing the content of former president Askar Akayev's secret diaries, which were found after the capture of the Kyrgyz White House on March 24. The Kyrgyz public is finding out more about the degree of... MORE