On January 13, Ashford published an opinion piece on the Russian intervention in Kazakhstan.
“The blink-and-you-might-miss-it intervention nonetheless provided some important reminders about security in Central Asia. Russia, for example, still has substantive interests and influence across Central Asia. Meanwhile, it appears that China is largely willing to stay hands-off on security matters in the region so long as its economic interests are secure. And — perhaps most counterintuitively — the intervention in Kazakhstan was also a reminder that US and Russian interests are not always in stark opposition; ongoing unrest in the oil- and gas-rich Central Asian state would have been bad for everyone.”
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