Crossroads Asia

The Kazakh president, whose constitutional referendum this summer aimed to bring about a "New" Kazakhstan, has moved, rhetorically, on to speaking of a “Just” Kazakhstan.

The recent comment from Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu echoes sentiments stated before, but it's not clear if it means anything in a practical sense.

Former Majilis speaker Nurlan Nigmatulin seems to have lost power. 

The Uzbek president scolded regional leaders for failing to address the problems of the people and laid out further investments to address economic problems.

Not so much. Ashgabat has a long way to go to achieve a functioning and competitive market economy. 

The content of state-sanctioned Islam conveyed online does not differ from what is published in books, but the delivery makes a difference.

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon is expected to make a visit to GBAO in early September, though no official announcement has been made.

Critics say the Erdeneburen hydroelectric power plant, which will be Mongolia’s largest, risks devastating crucial wetlands.

Kyrgyzstan’s government, long known as Central Asia’s most democratic, is becoming less and less transparent — and the country’s once-active civil society appears unconcerned.

Cracks in air-filled buoyancy tanks have reportedly led to the suspension of filling at two of three mooring points near the port of Novorossiysk.

Swiss and Uzbek officials agreed to the restitution of assets seized from Gulnara Karimova to Uzbekistan via a U.N.-managed trust fund. 

The warning came after a video surfaced of a migrant leader in the Russian city of Perm urging compatriots form a “volunteer battalion.”