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Tag: Central Asia

Paradise in a time of war: Central Asia’s tracks still point north

Luxury trains increasingly sell Central Asia through the romance of the Silk Road. Yet the region's railways tell another story of conquest, Soviet integration, and the fracture of independence. Travelling these lines reveals how that inheritance continues to shape Central Asia's relationship with Russia.

October 15, 2026 - Ned Wontner

Shifting geopolitical orientations in Central Asia

A pro-Russia orientation has been a stable feature of Central Asia since the region’s independence in 1991. While of crucial importance for Europe, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 initially seemed to be a far-away conflict that would not concern Central Asia directly. And yet, Central Asia’s positive relations with Russia soon began to change.

September 11, 2026 - Karolina Kluczewska

How Central Asia quietly expands its horizons westward

Azerbaijan’s entry into the Central Asian Consultative Meeting could transform the grouping into a more coherent and self-reliant framework in which energy, security, cultural ties, and diplomatic coordination mutually reinforce regional autonomy. Energy aggregation would be central to this shift.

April 21, 2026 - Ioseb Dzamukashvili Sekhniashvili

Bukhara delights with art, while the authorities count political dividends

The first Biennale in Bukhara attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors and became one of the most talked-about cultural events in Central Asia. However, behind the aesthetic spectacle and narrative of cultural dialogue lies the question of whether art in Uzbekistan is a space of freedom, or rather a carefully designed tool for building the image of an authoritarian state.

February 20, 2026 - Anna Gzubicka

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

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