Eurasia / Opinion
PANNIER: After 10 years of Mirziyoyev, some aspects of Uzbekistan still bear stamp of Karimov
Entitled to rule until he’s 80 if polls fall his way, country’s leader shows no sign of delivering generous rights.
Putin seems peeved with Uzbekistan
Kremlin leader may harbour lengthy list of potential grievances.
TCHAKAROV: Tajikistan’s 2027-29 high-octane macro bet — growth on steroids, inflation on a leash
Tajikistan’s new medium-term macro framework looks like a development manifesto dressed up as a macro table.
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COMMENT: COP17 desertification summit delivered mixed results but important momentum
Nature Conservancy’s director of biodiversity and infrastructure policy releases closing statement after Ulaanbaatar conference.
Europe is heading into winter waiting for Qatari gas that is not coming back
Europe's gas traders have spent the summer betting that the Gulf war would end in time. It has not, and the bill for that bet falls due in November.
Russia could use nuclear weapons as “last option” in face of expanding Ukraine war, warns Turkish foreign minister
West knows of these concerns, says Hakan Fidan.
COMMENT: Russia's fuel crisis spills into Central Asia as Moscow's backup supply dries up
Ukraine's drone campaign against Russian refineries has rocked not only Russia's own fuel market but those of Central Asia too, Carnegie Politika's Galiya Ibragimova writes, warning the region has little time to avert a full-scale shortage.
Georgian Dream's promised US reset keeps failing to arrive
Repeated claim a reset with Washington is close at hand has become a domestic political tool rather than a genuine diplomatic goal.
TCHAKAROV: The Kyrgyz som’s calm is getting expensive
The National Bank of the Kyrgyz Republic has sold almost $1.5bn through nine foreign-exchange interventions since the start of 2026.
MACRO ADVISORY: Best Eurasia books published in 1H26
Macro-Advisory Limited has issued its annual mid-year compilation of the best business, political and general interest books published in 1H26, covering the twelve states in the Eurasia region plus Iran and Afghanistan.
COMMENT: Central Asia's talk of decolonisation outruns the reality
Public discourse increasingly casts Central Asia as shedding Russian influence – through decolonisation, a pivot to China, or a push for greater sovereignty – but the reality on the ground is far messier.
COMMENT: Is Kazakhstan quietly ditching Russia?
With Putin’s war and economy going badly, the suggestion is that China will soon be seen as the clear number one strategic partner to the Kazakhs.
PANNIER: Countries line up to access Central Asia’s critical minerals
The minerals are there but the planned scale of production requires a dozen or more new processing plants.
TCHAKAROV: New shade of success? Think Uzbek green!
The government's objective of lifting clean energy to more than half of installed capacity by 2030 looks increasingly realistic.
Mongolia's risky fuel strategy gamble
Country’s dependence on Russian gasoline gives it short-term supply stability but leaves it structurally exposed.
Election result boosts Armenia's EU path but Russia-backed opposition still a constraint
Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan secured a decisive election victory, resilient pro-Russian opposition could slow his efforts to advance peace with Azerbaijan and deepen ties with the West, says Carnegie Politika analysis.
New initiative launched to redirect Gulf energy flows away from Strait toward Mediterranean
Syria envisioned as key cog in new energy distribution network.
Armenia accelerates trade shift toward EU after Russian pre-election pressure
Relations between Yerevan and Moscow remain strained, following a pattern seen in Moldova, where Russian trade restrictions and political pressure ultimately helped push exports toward the EU.