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
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
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
Another winter in Central Asia is coming to an end, and smog has loomed over the cities of the region for many months now. At a glance, IQAir’s air quality map shows unhealthy or toxic air quality across numerous urban settlements in the Central Asian region on most days. It paints a disturbing picture that … Read more
Struggling with “dysfunctional rule of law, rising authoritarianism and systemic corruption” the annual Corruption Perceptions Index, released on January 30 by Transparency International, presents a “troubling picture” for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Meanwhile, countries that score highly in the index “have long fuelled transnational corruption,” a mantra familiar in the region we cover here … Read more
As the new year dawned, the U.S. State Department issued its annual “Countries of Particular Concern” designations, calling out a dozen countries for engaging in or tolerating particularly severe violations of religious freedom. Once again, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan find themselves on the list, alongside Myanmar, China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Russia, and … Read more
Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, and other countries around the world have imposed a wide range of sanctions on Russia, forcing Moscow to use Turkey and neighboring Central Asian countries to route trade of sanctioned goods. Many countries did not join the sanctions against Russia outright, but nevertheless … Read more
It is a puzzling question: why do the energy-rich Central Asian states experience frequent energy crises? The answer points to a trap, a ticking bomb that every winter threatens to explode into an insurmountable challenge for the region’s people and its governments alike: the region’s old infrastructure needs billions in immediate renovations and the region’s … Read more