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Tag: Central Asia

Shifting ground in Russia–Azerbaijan relations

The tensions between Moscow and Baku seemed to thaw in Dushanbe this past October, as Vladimir Putin and Ilham Aliyev met for the first time since the catastrophic downing of an Azerbaijani passenger jet last year. In a rare gesture, Putin offered a guarded apology – a move seen as an attempt to halt months of escalating hostility. Yet, beneath the optics of reconciliation, the meeting revealed the limits of the two leaders’ once pragmatic relationship.

December 8, 2025 - Murad Muradov

Turkey’s policy in Central Asia

Turkey is now a leading partner for many states within Central Asia. Sharing a common cultural inheritance, Ankara has been able to create numerous shared institutions with the region. The future of these links will depend on a variety of domestic and international factors, particularly those linked to Russia and China.

November 25, 2025 - Adrian Santano

How Russia’s neighbours re-evaluated Victory Day after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine

Victory Day was once an important secular holiday across most former Soviet states, reflected in family traditions and regime legitimization. Then came 2022. Moscow’s equation of the holiday with its maximalist war on Ukraine triggered different degrees of re-evaluation across Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia – with its 80th anniversary offering a litmus test for normalizing Russia’s aggression.

June 5, 2025 - Alexander Neuman

Kazakhstan’s nuclear future runs through Europe

The announcement that Kazakhstan will build its first modern nuclear reactor has resulted in foreign companies competing for potential involvement. While Russian and Chinese firms are naturally on the list, a bid by the French company EDF could allow Astana to pursue wider links with Europe.

February 27, 2025 - Francis Shin Jacob Paquette

Hungary makes its mark at the World Nomad Games

The annual World Nomad Games is now challenging established western definitions of sport. As a result, it is interesting to note the strong Hungarian presence at these events. A pseudoscientific theory from the 19th century is now helping Budapest to pursue links with the East in more ways than one.

A group of men in ethnic garments stood in a row waiting for a sign to shoot, rays of early autumn sun falling on their sculpted shoulders. When the order came, they lifted their bows and shot at the shields in front of them, their arrows cutting through the air with unnatural speed. To the joy of his national team, the winner – a Hungarian called Làszlò Koczka – won the gold medal in traditional archery at 60 metres, a sweet victory here in Kazakhstan, a country famous for impeccable archers.

November 21, 2024 - Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska

Mapping scenarios for future Russia-Kazakhstan relations

The war in Ukraine has encouraged discussion on Russia’s wider designs for the region. This is particularly clear with regards to Kazakhstan, which is also home to a large Russian-speaking population. Various scenarios are possible regarding this pivotal Central Asian state.

September 6, 2024 - Harry Fennell Ignacio Hutin Mariam Bitchoshvili Zahar Hryniv

It is time for the EU to initiate a Trans-Caspian Partnership

EU leaders’ decision to start accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine has put the final nail in the coffin of the Eastern Partnership which was never designed to handle enlargement. The time is therefore ripe for a geopolitically more assertive EU to geographically reimagine and thematically widen its Eastern policy. Substituting the obsolete Eastern Partnership for a new Trans-Caspian Partnership could be the solution. In the South Caucasus and Central Asia, the desire to forge closer ties with the EU has increased following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

August 21, 2024 - Johan Engvall

Nascent, destroyed, aspiring: three cinematic visions of Dushanbe

The past century has seen the Tajik capital Dushanbe change in many ways. As the city celebrates its first one hundred years at the country’s heart, it is worth looking back at the media that has encapsulated its many eras.

August 14, 2024 - Karolina Kluczewska

Murivat Beknazarov’s art as memory

: The collapse of the Soviet Union meant more than just the fall of a government. For many, it also brought about the end of a way of life. This includes the artist Murivat Beknazarov, who through his work fought to defend the memories of Soviet Tajikistan’s unique cultural life.

When I went to meet Murivat Beknazarov in his studio in Dushanbe for the first time, on a warm autumn day in 2018, he explained to me the location by phone. Since street names are rarely known due to frequent renaming, he told me to find the so-called “artists’ house” in the north of the city. “Just ask around, everyone knows this place,” he said. That was probably the case in Soviet times, but not anymore. As it turned out, no one knew where this place was, not even people living in neighbouring buildings.

April 11, 2024 - Karolina Kluczewska

Central Asia gains prominence in European Union strategy

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the importance of Central Asia to the EU has become increasingly clear. Now represents an opportune moment for Brussels to strengthen a relationship that could greatly benefit both regions in the future.

March 29, 2024 - Janusz Bugajski

The West should treat Kazakhstan’s political shift with caution

Kazakhstan is interested in bolstering cooperation with the West. However, it would be naïve to place high hopes on the Kazakh government.

September 4, 2023 - Aleksandra Klitina Lesia Dubenko

Prospects and challenges for Central Asian states against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Central Asia has been known as a region that was for a long period of time incorporated into the Soviet Union and therefore influenced by Russia. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has undermined its reputation and presence in the region, and the emerging gap in trade and security is slowly being filled by China. How do these states manage such new shifts in geopolitics? And what trends may shape their outlook for the future?

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has become a serious challenge for Central Asian states, which tend to consider Russia as their reliable partner in the security and economic spheres. However, Russian foreign policy treats Central Asia as an extension of its sphere of influence, which should be maintained by two international organisations led by Russia: the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO).

April 28, 2023 - Danylo Stonis

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