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Catherine Putz

Catherine Putz is managing editor of The Diplomat.

Catherine (Katie) Putz is managing editor of The Diplomat.

She manages the monthly magazine as well as writing on Central Asia and Afghanistan. She writes on politics, security and culture in former Soviet spaces, particularly where they link to greater Asia. Katie also co-hosts The Diplomat’s Asia Geopolitics Podcast.

Katie is a graduate of the Patterson School of Diplomacy and International Commerce at the University of Kentucky, where she studied international security and Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in history with a focus on U.S. diplomatic and conflict history. Previously, Katie worked in several positions at the Atlantic Council and as a communications consultant at the World Bank. She is a member of the Military Writers Guild and the National Press Club.

Get in touch with Katie on LinkedIn, or email.

Posts by Catherine Putz

January 27, 2022

Kazakh President Takes Aim at Wealthy Elite

By Catherine Putz

In asking Kazakhstan's rich to "pay their dues" Tokayev is addressing an aspect of public anger, but also might just be securing himself in power.

January 25, 2022

Blackouts Strike Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan

By Catherine Putz

The widespread blackout highlights a series of interconnected and concerning problems relating to reliable energy supplies in the region

January 25, 2022

Kyrgyz Journalist and Poet Detained on Suspicious Drugs Charges

By Catherine Putz

It’s hard not to link the drug charges against Bolot Temirov and Bolot Nazarov to their activities irritating certain authority figures.

January 19, 2022

SIGAR on the Unsustainability of the Afghan Air Force

By Catherine Putz

In a classified January 2021 report, SIGAR warned that the Afghan air forces were unsustainable without continued U.S. support. The newly declassified report explains why.

January 18, 2022

Nazarbayev Resurfaces, Dismisses Talk of Elite Conflict in Kazakhstan

By Catherine Putz

The statement from the First President came just after evidence of elite conflict began surfacing in earnest, with suggestions of a purge of Nazarbayev elites.

January 13, 2022

Central Asia Continues to Supply Electricity to Afghanistan

By Catherine Putz

In recent weeks, both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have signed agreements with Afghanistan on energy supplies in 2022, despite unplanned outages.

January 13, 2022

Central Asia Braces for COVID-19 Omicron Wave

By Catherine Putz

With the arrival of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Central Asia looks to be heading into its fourth wave of pandemic.

January 12, 2022

A War of Words: Kazakhstan, Terrorists, and Protesters

By Catherine Putz

In a statement, several U.N. special rapporteurs condemned Kazakhstan’s broad use of the term “terrorism.”

January 11, 2022

Causes and Consequences of Kazakhstan’s January 2022 Unrest

By Ankit Panda, Catherine Putz, and Ankit Panda

Protests over gas prices have quickly spiraled into nationwide unrest, resulting in the first-ever intervention by the CSTO in one of its member states.

January 11, 2022

Curious Case of the Kyrgyz Jazzman Detained in Kazakhstan

By Catherine Putz

The bizarre story illustrates a wider set of concerns as the Kazakh government claims to have arrested nearly 8,000 people in the wake of a week of chaos in Kazakhstan.

January 08, 2022

Former Security Chief Massimov Arrested on Treason Charges in Kazakhstan

By Catherine Putz

A day after being dismissed as head of the KNB, Massimov was arrested. The news sheds additional light on the complex web of politics and violence at play.

January 07, 2022

Kazakhstan’s Tokayev Orders Troops to ‘Shoot to Kill Without Warning’

By Catherine Putz

Tokayev called international urging for the government to negotiate with protesters "idiocy."