Tajikistan

Turbulence in the wider geopolitical sea has, in many ways, cleared Europe’s path to Central Asia. 

The Samarkand summit marks a watershed moment in EU-Central Asia relations at a time when the international order is undergoing a fundamental realignment.

A first-of-its-kind Central Asian summit boosts regional connectivity and authoritarian domestic agendas.

If leaked documents listing active and terminated projects are accurate, almost all USAID programs in Central Asia have been cut. 

Authoritarian consolidation might have accelerated border deal-making on the paper, but it may also impede deal-making on the ground.

Now that the U.S. is siding with Russia, where does that leave Central Asia? 

A discussion on religious freedom abroad invariably circled back to the present political turmoil in the United States under the second Trump administration.

The Trump administration’s decision to suspend the U.S. global air quality monitoring program complicates matters in far-away Tajikistan.

The presidents of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan are expected to meet for their first-ever trilateral summit on March 31.

Dushanbe’s parliamentary polls, held on March 2, took place without external scrutiny and turned up an expected landslide for the ruling party.

With final documents ready for ratification and then presidential signatures, contemporary Central Asia’s bloodiest conflict nears a conclusion. 

Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are closing in on the conclusion of their long-running border dispute. What does the prospect mean to locals?

Without guarantees that observers would be accredited, and an apparent lack of engagement by Dushanbe, the OSCE has chosen to cancel its monitoring mission.

Economic, political, and environmental trends are accelerating Central Asia’s shift to EVs, and Chinese firms are at the forefront.

Given the classified nature of the trial, the details of the alleged plot are unknown.

In contrast to India’s well-established bilateral security engagements with Central Asian states, China has been less active beyond the scope of the SCO. 

For ISKP Central Asian members in particular, the victory of HTS in Syria is a significant challenge, but also presents an opportunity.

Prosecutors are asking for 20-30 year sentences for eight defendants presumably accused of a coup plot about which there are very few details available.

The GRU spent tens of millions of dollars funding terrorist groups in Afghanistan to target U.S. and NATO forces, and routed funds and weapons through Tajikistan to accomplish its aims.

The meeting heralded the significant progress made in the last year on the three countries’ once-tense borders. 

Unexploded ordnance left over from the 2022 conflict pose risks to populations in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, even as the two governments finalize a border deal.

How did I do on my outlook for Central Asia 2024? 

The two sides say they’ve reached an agreement and fully completed the description of their mutual border. The next steps will be even more difficult.