Blackouts across Central Asia should be a light-bulb moment for Washington as it seeks to diversify critical-mineral supply chains. An August 14 blackout across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and...
The OSCE’s recent decision to hold its 2027 meeting in Belgrade will reward Serbia for its democratic backsliding and pro-authoritarian foreign policy.
In Kyrgyzstan, criticism of Chinese influence can end in public shaming or an arrest warrant. On July 20, a Kyrgyz presidential administration official published photographs, names, birth dates, and social...
Landlocked Kazakhstan is seeking port access, and Astana is banking on Iran to provide it. On July 8, Kazakhstan signed an agreement to build a logistics and transport terminal at Iran’s largest seaport...
A century of failed experiments before the rise of Mamdani and friends
Russia is running short on gas. On June 24, Reuters reported that Russia petitioned Kazakhstan to provide 50,000 metric tons of AI-92 gasoline to alleviate domestic shortages. Despite its status as...
The United States is vulnerable to Chinese control over critical mineral supply chains. To reduce its dependence on Beijing, Washington is increasingly looking to Central Asia. On June 10, U.S. special...
War has a way of redrawing maps – not just political ones, but commercial ones as well. The outbreak of conflict with Iran has disrupted longstanding trade arteries linking Asia to Europe, from Persian...
The European Union is stepping up enforcement against Russian sanctions evasion. Brussels has now implemented its largest set of designations against Moscow in two years, targeting the Kremlin’s enablers...
The Chinese government’s power to prosecute — or persecute — critics does not stop at its borders. On April 13, a court in Kazakhstan sentenced 19 activists to prison after they protested Beijing’s...
Over the last few weeks, the Islamist regime in Tehran has expanded the scope of its hostage-taking operation. Not satisfied with only taking Western citizens hostage and then extorting their governments,...
In the spirit of the Passover Seder, here is a guide for helping others to understand how — and why — Israel is facing down its enemies in the Middle East
After successfully expanding US influence in Azerbaijan and Armenia, the Trump administration should set its sights on Georgia.
The U.S. is using diplomatic and economic carrots to project influence in a region that Russia has long regarded as its backyard. Vice President JD Vance visited Armenia and Azerbaijan from February...
As Parliament reviews the transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, US access to the Diego Garcia base is no longer assured.
On November 7, 2025, the Daily Mail reported on an Iranian assassination plot against Israel’s ambassador to Mexico. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) orchestrated the...
Kazakhstan has reached out to the United States in an unprecedented fashion — by improving relations with Israel. Prior to a November summit between the United States and five Central Asia countries,...
Iraqis voted in a parliamentary election on November 11, the country’s sixth since the toppling of former President Saddam Hussein in 2003. The election, held as security forces were deployed...
Russia is celebrating a major win in cyberspace. On October 25 and 26, representatives from 110 countries convened in Hanoi, Vietnam, to sign the Russian-drafted UN Convention on Cybercrime. Under the...
Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu was yet again the victim of a brazen terrorist attack conducted by Shabaab, Al Qaeda’s branch for East Africa. Yesterday, at least seven Shabaab gunmen stormed the...