Central Asia

As mass protests against the regime broke out in Kazakhstan at the beginning of the year, the first month of 2022 will go down in history as Bloody January. Is this the end of the Nazarbayev era? 

Agnieszka Widlaszewska on the relevance of the CSTO in light of the organisation's first-ever deployment of collective forces to support the Kazakhstani authorities in regaining control after [...]

“Is that your car?” Khusnidin asked, pointing to the UAZ Hunter my friend and I had rented in Bishkek. “I have a Soviet car as well, a white Lada Niva” he said proudly, as my friend plowed the [...]

In light of the recent upheavals and political unrest in Kazakhstan, Kimberly St. Julian-Varnon writes about the need to change public perception and portrayals of Kazakhstan in global news and [...]

Since 2 January, the world has watched as a relatively small protest in western Kazakhstan turned into country-wide unrest. While it may shock some to see protests over an increase in fuel prices [...]

Sydney Millar on the second attempt at electing a new parliament after the failure of the last elections in October last year.

"What began as an absurd lie on behalf of the Turkmen government has become a real danger to Turkmenistan’s citizens." This month's Central Asia editorial by Sydney Millar.

Unlike most of its other neighbors, Tajikistan has not only pledged to help Afghans fleeing the Taliban, but has taken a strong stance against the new regime. Sydney Millar explores three [...]

Elodie Phillips' interview Suna Julia Parks about growing up in Central Asia, about moving back to the city where she was born as an adult and, her projects current work with "hashar" and [...]

Chinese growing economic influence and military presence in Tajikistan might be a two-edged sword.