Region
Central Asia
Is This the Closing of the Kazakh Window Into Xinjiang?
By Catherine Putz
With the arrest of Serikzhan Bilash, a movement that gave the world a view into the Xinjiang crisis has an uncertain future.
Trains, Planes, and Automobiles: Central Asia Is Reconnecting With Itself
By Austen Dowell
Mapping newly created, resurrected, and proposed transport routes across Central Asia provides insight into regional connectivity drives.
Finding Kazakhstan’s Troll Farms
By Nazira Kozhanova
Nurbots fill comment sections across the Kazakh internet. They may not be convincing but they pollute online discourse.
Sarah Cameron: Famine and Unimaginable Sorrow in Soviet Kazakhstan
By Catherine Putz
A discussion of Soviet policy, a devastating famine, and the making of Kazakhstan.
The Kok Zhailau Problem and Kazakh Civil Society
By Nazira Kozhanova
Plans to build a ski resort on a national park in Kazakhstan have been met with local resistance.
Understanding Turkmenistan’s Food Shortages
By Ryskeldi Satke
Turkmen activist-in-exile Fareed Tukhbatullin explains the “deplorable” economic reality in his home country.
What a US-Iran War Means for Afghanistan and Uzbekistan
By Nicholas Trickett
U.S. coercive pressure on Iran works against Uzbekistan’s regional interests and the stability of Afghanistan.
All Along the Irtysh River Basin
By Nicholas Muller
Running across China, Kazakhstan, and Russia, the Irtysh carries with it a host of difficulties from floods to pollution.
Who Will Run Post-Nazarbayev Kazakhstan?
By Natalie Hall
At 78, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is the region's oldest leader. Naturally, speculation abounds about a successor.
Turn in the Two-Faced: The Plight of Uyghur Intellectuals
By Mamtimin Ala
China’s fight against Uyghur intellectuals in the name of 'two-facedness.'
#FreeKhayrullo and the Art of Changing Tajikistan's Mind
By Catherine Putz
What can we learn from the recent release of jailed Tajik journalist Khayrullo Mirsaidov?
Tajikistan’s Child Hostages
By Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska
How a 4-year-old child became a hostage in Tajikistan’s battles against the exiled opposition.