Central Asia Archives

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Between East and West

Central Asia

The Central Asian Republics—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan—are located at the nexus of Russia, China, South Asia, and the Middle East. Leveraging their critical geography, these nations are renewing their role as the crossroads of trade between the West and Asia—resulting in significant economic development, especially in the sectors of energy and natural resources. While moves toward reform and democracy have been made since independence in 1991, corruption and human rights issues remain prevalent throughout the region.

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Russia must stop being an empire if it is wishes to prosper as a nation

UkraineAlert May 11, 2022

Kazakhstan cancels Victory Day in protest over Putin’s Ukraine War

Kazakhstan’s recent decision to cancel the country’s annual WWII Victory Day parade was a small but significant indication of Nur-Sultan’s opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

New Atlanticist Mar 23, 2022

Not just Russian oligarchs: Britain must block Kazakhstan’s kleptocrats from securing a safe haven

By Francis Shin

There is a strong chance to extend some of the regulatory reforms directed towards Russian oligarchs to also apply to the Nazarbayev family.

Central Asia Economy & Business

EnergySource Jan 20, 2022

By intervening in Kazakhstan, Russia strengthens its hand in China’s energy market

By Paddy Ryan

A Russian-led intervention to quell violent protests in Kazakhstan will undoubtedly come with strings attached. Kazakhstan may fall even further into Russia’s energy orbit, unraveling the country’s carefully crafted multi-vector foreign policy and putting its relationship with China to the test.

Central Asia Energy & Environment

Featured events

Public Event Mon, March 7, 2022 • 3:30 pm ET

Thirty years of US-Kazakhstan relations: The winter crisis and path forward

January’s unrest in Kazakhstan underscores some of the challenges with the country’s economic development and growing geopolitical importance. What does that means for the next thirty years and the country’s relationship with the United States?

Central Asia Geopolitics & Energy Security Political Reform Politics & Diplomacy

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The Eurasia Center’s mission is to enhance transatlantic cooperation in promoting stability, democratic values and prosperity in Eurasia, from Eastern Europe and Turkey in the West to the Caucasus, Russia and Central Asia in the East.

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UkraineAlert

Dec 6, 2022

Russia must stop being an empire if it is wishes to prosper as a nation

By Taras Kuzio

Post-Soviet Russia never shed the imperial identity inherited from the Soviet and Czarist past but Putin's disastrous invasion of Ukraine could now set the stage for the emergence of a post-imperial Russian identity.

Central Asia Conflict

UkraineAlert

Nov 30, 2022

As Putin retreats in Ukraine, he is also losing Kazakhstan

By Kamila Auyezova

Putin's rapidly unraveling invasion of Ukraine is eroding Russian influence throughout the former Soviet Empire. This process of imperial retreat is nowhere more visible than in Kazakhstan, writes Kamila Auyezova.

Central Asia China

New Atlanticist

Nov 8, 2022

How the West can help build Kazakh democracy

By Benton Coblentz

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s makeover of Kazakhstan's politics is incomplete, but the West should offer support to push it in the right direction.

Central Asia Democratic Transitions

UkraineAlert

Oct 7, 2022

Vladimir Putin has little reason to celebrate on his seventieth birthday

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin marks his seventieth birthday on October 7 but the Russian ruler has little reason to celebrate as his disastrous Ukraine invasion continues to unravel leaving Russia increasingly internationally isolated.

Central Asia Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 21, 2022

Putin’s nuclear ultimatum is a desperate bid to freeze a losing war

By Peter Dickinson

Vladimir Putin's threat to use nuclear weapons in the war against Ukraine is a sign of the Russian dictator's mounting desperation as his invasion continues to unravel and his country's geopolitical isolation deepens.

Central Asia Conflict

UkraineAlert

Sep 17, 2022

Putin’s Russian Empire is collapsing like its Soviet predecessor

By Taras Kuzio

Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was meant to extinguish the Ukrainian state once and for all. Instead, Russian influence in the post-Soviet region is in danger of receding to levels not witnessed in hundreds of years.

Belarus Central Asia

UkraineAlert

Jun 30, 2022

Goodwill gestures and de-Nazification: Decoding Putin’s Ukraine War lexicon

By Peter Dickinson

From “goodwill gestures” to “de-Nazification” and “reclaiming Russian lands,” the Atlantic Council's Peter Dickinson decodes some of the key phrases from the lexicon of Putin’s Ukraine War into plain English.

Central Asia Conflict

In the News

Jun 30, 2022

Graham cited in International Banker on the lack of incentives in the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework

Read the full article here.

Australia Central Asia

BelarusAlert

May 17, 2022

Putin’s only friend: Belarus is Russia’s last remaining post-Soviet ally

By Brian Whitmore

The recent CSTO summit in Moscow highlighted Russia's lack of support even within the former Soviet region while underlining Belarus dictator Alyaksandr Lukashenka's status as Vladimir Putin's last remaining ally.

Belarus Central Asia

UkraineAlert

May 11, 2022

Kazakhstan cancels Victory Day in protest over Putin’s Ukraine War

By Wilder Alejandro Sánchez, Kamila Auyezova

Kazakhstan's recent decision to cancel the country's annual WWII Victory Day parade was a small but significant indication of Nur-Sultan's opposition to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Central Asia Conflict