As the holy month of Ramadan drew near, Tajikistan’s president expressed his concern about frequent hajj and umrah pilgrimages performed by Tajik citizens and the amount of money spent on them. “In 2023 alone, 63,000 citizens of the country undertook hajj and umrah ceremonies,” Emomali Rahmon said, altogether spending more than 1,200 billion somoni, or … Read more
When it comes to Central Asia, one of the hottest topics among Western policymakers and scholars alike is China’s engagement in the region, especially since the 2013 launch of the Belt and Road Initiative. In a recent quantitative analysis of Chinese scholarship on Central Asia, Frank Maracchione and Bradley Jardine tackled some prominent assumptions in … Read more
On February 8, the U.S. Department of State hosted the inaugural meeting of the C5+1 Critical Minerals Dialogue (CMD) alongside senior officials from all five Central Asian countries. The event represented the first step in implementing the CMD, announced in September during U.S. President Joe Biden’s historic summit with the Central Asian heads of state … Read more
A court in Almaty, Kazakhstan, has extended the detention of outspoken Karakalpak activist Aqylbek Muratbai to February 15, 2025 – a full year. Muratbai (also known as Muratov) was detained on February 15, 2024 in Almaty, initially for 40 days while Kazakh authorities considered an extradition request from Uzbekistan. While Muratbai holds an Uzbek passport, … Read more
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have agreed to install meters in each other’s territory to monitor water consumption and share data online with each other. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation announced the agreement on March 19, noting in a press release that Kazakhstan will install meters on Uzbek territory and Uzbekistan will install meters on … Read more
On February 8, 2024, the U.S. Department of State hosted the inaugural meeting of the Critical Minerals Dialogue (CMD) in the C5+1 format, chaired by Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose W. Fernandez. The initiative to hold a dialogue on critical minerals was announced by the presidents of the United States, … Read more
With the rise of Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and a litany of international sanctions levied against Russia, the most popular global shipping routes have become increasingly unreliable. Some companies are avoiding the Suez route altogether, preferring to go around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa. In Russia, westbound cargo throughput along … Read more
On March 9, Kazakhstan’s National Security Committee (KNB) confirmed media reports that two Kazakh citizens had been killed by law enforcement in Russia. Two days earlier, on March 7, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had stopped an Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) cell from carrying out a terrorist attack targeting a synagogue. … Read more
Given the vital importance of oil and gas in fueling modern societies, securing access to such resources forms an integral component of a country’s foreign policy. Transnational pipeline projects can either aggravate interstate relations – as in the case of an energy-rich state halting supplies to neighboring countries – or promote cooperation, such as the peace pipeline … Read more
To mark the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last week and the recent death of Russia opposition politician Alexei Navalny, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control announced sanctions on almost 300 individuals and entities. Embedded in the list were a handful of Central Asian companies. The latest … Read more