... official Daniel Rosenblum signaled a shift in the direction of American policy in Central Asia, reflecting some critical economic, political and security developments in the area. The June 9th speech comes after an unprecedented five-country tour of Central Asia-- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan-- by Secretary of State Kerry last November.
In the same address to the House Foreign Affairs Committee last year, Rosenblum detailed the usual multifold approach to Central Asia— ...
... security challenges in the region, covering problems of terrorism and withdrawing cross-border threats from the conflict zone in the Middle East, fight against the ideology of radical Islam, infiltration of the Islamic State, banned in Russia, into Central Asian countries, Kazakhstan and Russia, as well as participation in armed hostilities of citizens of the above states on the side of the Islamic State. The problems of drug trafficking, arms traffic through Central Asian states, as well as the CSTO, SCO and other organizations’ ...
... try to exploit regional identity and mobilize political supporters for rallies and marches or even unrest and military clashes, as was the case in 1992 in Dushanbe, which escalated into civil war.
Relations Between Regional Indigenous Peoples
. All Central Asian countries, except for Kazakhstan with its three expanding big cities, suffer from the lack of alternative centers of growth. Hence, they are seeing only one megalopolis develop, in the capital, which attracts migrants from other parts of the country. In Central Asia, where ...
... Baltic states, Central Asia was not a theater of war.
Second, perceptions of the Great Patriotic War in Central Asia are prominently affected by the population’s youthfulness. The average median age there ranges from 21 in Tajikistan to 29 in Kazakhstan
[1]
. Over half of all Central Asians are under 30 years of age, while in Tajikistan youths constitute two thirds of the population. The generation of
victory grandchildren
, i.e. children under 15 years of age, ranges from 25 percent in Kazakhstan to 33 percent in Tajikistan....
... proposed a trilateral currency union to coordinate currency policies during difficult times.
We met two top Kazakh analysts –
Andrey Chebotaryov
, Director of the Alternative Center for Contemporary Research, and
Danyar Kosnazarov
, Head of the Central Asian and Caspian Studies at the Kazakhstan First President Library – to ask them five questions and find out if the EEU may become attractive for other countries or generate more friction between current participants due to its unbalanced mechanisms.
How does Kazakhstan view the ...
... framework. Relations with the EU, the WTO and other international organizations will not change much due to the accession of certain Central Asian republics to the EAEU. Perhaps, this relationship may become less intense, as the emphasis in international economic ... ... to the EAEU. However, another scenario is possible too, meaning that such cooperation, on the contrary, may well be enhanced. Kazakhstan's accession to the WTO may contribute to this. It is of primary importance for Kyrgyzstan, since within the framework ...
... circumstances, the almost universal conceptualization of the idea that “national security is the security of the political regime” has become the main consequence, which is vividly illustrated by the rescheduling of the presidential elections in Kazakhstan from 2016 to 2015.
Eurasian integration: deep water or still water?
The immediate reaction to the events in Ukraine reflects mounting apprehension in Central Asia over national sovereignty and territorial integrity, increased fears of “Russian neo-imperialism,” as well as growing uncertainty about its future foreign policy positioning.
www.irna.ir
Irina Zviagelskaya:
In Search of Support ...
... relations between Iran and Central Asian states also face subjective difficulties (see Tables 1, 2). These are largely due to Iran’s international isolation and excessive bureaucracy. Thus, there is a
lack of an established Iranian banking system in Central Asia
(apart from Kazakhstan), which complicates servicing commercial operations.
Table 1.
Exports of Central Asian countries in 2010
Country
Exports volume, billion USD
Share of exports volume, %
EC
31,9
37,7
Russia
13,8
16,4
China
12,4
14,6
Iran
4,0
4,8
Turkey
2,7
3,...
... Uzbekistan left CSTO, doesn’t have any plans in joining Customs Union and tries to dominate regional competition. Other countries in the region are ruled out by the the very same parameters but with a different modulus sign. Russia is dealing with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, providing the two latter with aid and debt forgiveness. At the same time Russia is conducting a very equivocal migration policy concerning labor migrants from Central Asia, this and dubious perspectives of joining the Customs Union can play against Russia in the regional “game”, no matter how generous she is to her allies. China ‘s mostly economic relationships with Central Asian states make ...
... becomes a successor, a situation may turn out differently. However, this scenario is the easiest in terms of responsibility - you don’t need to worry about your future after resignation. In fact, you don’t need to worry about anything.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
Niyazov’s case created a precedent in Central Asia, after 2006 media and political analysts started to see a possibility of the same scenario in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Nowadays, media in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan sometimes publish articles on prospective successors, trying to guess, who ...
