Category Uzbekistan
Euromaidan protests : How are Central Asia and the Caucasus reacting?
For those who only casually followed events in Ukraine, the trajectory of pro-European protests to full-scale revolution, to the ousting of the President, and now Russian incursions into Crimea are confusing, scary and giving people flashbacks of a time not so long ago, as the US breaks military ties with Russia and contemplates sanctions. This […]
10 Reasons the US Foreign Policy Community Can’t Afford to Ignore Eurasia
2014 is bound to be a year of pundits asking, ad nauseam, ‘What’s next for Afghanistan?” It’s an important question, especially with Iraq currently providing a harrowing harbinger of what can go wrong after a drawdown of US forces. However, in the din surrounding the pull-out from Afghanistan, questions about strategy for the larger Central […]
China’s New Central Asian Investments: A Quick Guide
China’s been busy lately. The Prime Minister of China, Xi Jinping toured of four of the Central Asian states. The story is well covered, and his tour is just one facet of China’s global resource grab. Earlier this week the news broke that China is renting 1/20th of Ukraine, or an area the size of Armenia, […]
Who Invited Tethys?
Tethys Petroleum, a fairly young oil and natural gas company focusing exclusively on Central Asia, stands poised to alter the geopolitical landscape of the region. In June it announced a three-way partnership with Total Exploration and Production and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) to develop Tajikistan’s Bokhtar Basin covering 35,000 km2 and contains some 27.5 […]
CES on the Ground: An interview with Carolyn Drake, author of Two Rivers
We were lucky enough to snag an interview with Carolyn Drake, who created a beautiful photography book that looks at life along the two main rivers in Central Asia, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya, over her years of travel in the region. The New Yorker recently wrote an article on the book and a […]
Rogun Dam – A Nexus of Conflict and Opportunity
After a siesta away from the Central Asian swirl and intrigue, we’re back with a CEStandard Deep-dive into one of the region’s thornier issues—the Rogun Dam. Rogun Dam – A Nexus of Conflict and Opportunity (PDF) We’re fascinated with Rogun for a number of reasons. Yes, the venomous sound bites it summons from Presidents Karimov and […]
Central Asia’s Ambassadors to the US discuss WTO membership
On 13 February 2013, the John’s Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI) held a panel event on the accession of the Central Asian countries to the WTO. Ambassadors from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were all present: Kairat Umarov, ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the U.S.; Muktar Djumaliev, […]
Kazakhstan’s violent year, Uzbekistan cuts off gas to Tajikistan (again) and a tale of piety in Georgia
As documented earlier this year by CES contributor Casey Michel, Kazakhstan’s border services had a rough 2012 – there were two mass murders in May and on December 25, the head of the Border Service was killed in a transport plane crash. This article, from RFE/RL, By Kazis Toguzbaev and Daisy Sindelar, documents events on the border in 2012 in […]
Gulnara Karimova’s Twitter Fight with Central Asianists, More on Georgia and being Vegetarian in Mongolia
Gulnara’s Twitter Fight: If you’re interested in Central Asia, and follow one or two of these talented folks online, you’re probably aware that Gulnara Karimova, the daughter of Uzbek President Islam Karimov, got into a bit of a spat via Twitter this week with some CA analysts and journalists. We’ve discussed her recent deluge of headlines recently, […]
Uzbekistan’s First Daughter: A guide to recent headlines
Thanks to @cjcmichel for his always-brilliant contributions. Some observations on Googoosha. There’s a certain realization, ticked somewhere between kitschy pop songs and the attendant parkour-ing along Registan’s skyline, somewhere astride her fashion efforts and her olfactory ambitions – somewhere through all the snide commentary about Googoosha and daddy’s money – that you find yourself looking at her career from a new, oblique angle. […]
Central Eurasia Standard 