A Turkish-Chinese spat as a result of Turkish criticism of China’s crackdown on Turkic Muslims in its strategic but troubled north-western province of Xinjiang complicates efforts by Kazakhstan and other Central Asian states to at best deal quietly behind closed doors with the plight of their citizens and ethnic kin in the People’s Republic. China’s…
Out of all of the former USSR-dominated regions, Central Asia remains the only one where the US hasn’t acquired sustainably aligned satellite countries. For this very reason, we can expect the US to start making steps towards economic integration with a number of leading regional players in the immediate future. To facilitate the study of…
Afghanistan has the unique opportunity to function as the irreplaceably vital component of the Golden Ring of Multipolar Great Powers after the US’ possible withdrawal by the end of 2020, but it can only achieve its geostrategic destiny if its many regional partners have a shared view of this future vision. Failure After Failure After…
The establishment of a financial consortium and joint working group between the railway administrations of Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan could one day lead to the creation of a Russia-Pakistan (RuPak) railway via Central Asia that would complement the Indo-Iranian North-South Transport Corridor (NSTC) to Russia but also potentially replace it in the event…
India has plans to expand the eastern branch of the North-South Transport Corridor to Kazakhstan and the rest of Central Asia. This possibility was discussed in mid-November during the bilateral Investment Forum and signifies the natural outgrowth of India’s connectivity investments in Iran. Reaching the Russian marketplace is the prime reason why India’s investing in…
The Russian Defense Minister’s visit to Uzbekistan yielded a landmark agreement that allows each of their military aircraft to use the other’s airspace, which will in practice enable Russia to more speedily supply its forces in Tajikistan in the event of an anti-terrorist emergency there and thus prevent the actualization of any worst-case scenarios stemming…
