Features
Uzbekistan seeks to become the digital command centre of the Middle Corridor
As billions of dollars are poured into infrastructure across Central Asia and the Caucasus, the official responsible for coordinating much of the Middle Corridor says the route's biggest challenge is not physical infrastructure but governance
Uzbekistan seeks to escape the raw materials trap as critical minerals boom gathers pace
Uzbekistan is seeking to transform itself from a supplier of raw materials into a producer of higher-value industrial goods as the global scramble for critical minerals accelerates.
TIIF 2026: Uzbekistan looks beyond tax breaks as special economic zones become engines of industrialisation
Uzbekistan is seeking to transform its network of SEZs. Policymakers and investors are increasingly focused on how Central Asia can convert abundant natural resources into higher-value economic activity.
Commentary: Kokand and Forgotten Origins of Soccer in Central Asia
Local institution, not foreign import.
TIIF 2026: Uzbekistan's $4 trillion Islamic finance opportunity
Uzbekistan is an unusual case in the Islamic world. Its population of nearly 40mn is overwhelmingly Muslim — around 90% — yet the country has operated since independence as a secular state, with a conventional western-style banking system.
TIIF 2026: An Uzbek boom is underway
At the fifth Tashkent International Investment Forum, Shavkat Mirziyoyev laid out the most ambitious reform agenda in Central Asia. Ben Aris reports from a country that is transforming faster than almost anyone expected.
TIIF 2026: Central Asia, new Asian tiger
Central Asia used to be thought of as sitting at the “navel of the world,” about as far away from everywhere as it was possible to be. Today that perception has changed as once again it finds itself at the centre of things.
Will US take up Kazakhstan’s offer to host Iran’s uranium stockpile?
Geopolitics experts see plan as entirely realistic. Central Asian country is a nonproliferation-minded middle power Tehran could accept without seeming to capitulate to Washington.
Panama turns Nordic industry into its proxy lobbyist in Brussels
Panama is turning the EU's own blacklist costs against Brussels — and Sweden's biggest multinationals are its most powerful argument for removal before October's ECOFIN vote.
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Iran says US-Iran memorandum commits to ending war on all fronts including Lebanon
ran's memorandum of understanding with the US commits to ending the war on all fronts including Lebanon, releasing blocked Iranian funds and lifting a blockade, Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi has said.
Asia welcomes Iran-US breakthrough, but caution remains
The tentative peace agreement between the United States and Iran has been greeted with a mixture of relief and caution across much of East and Southeast Asia, a region that has borne more than its fair share of the economic fallout of late.
After 4,400 days in power, India's Modi faces his toughest test yet
On June 10 2026, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the longest serving constitutionally elected prime minister of India.
Fujimori wins Peru on votes from Peruvians who don't live there
Keiko Fujimori is Peru's next president — elected by Peruvians who don't live there. At home, a captured Congress and hollowed institutions await.
India’s aluminium giants eye decade-high margins
The deficit being seen in the global market has been triggered by curtailment in production in the Gulf Cooperation Council region, which contributed almost 8.3% to the world’s aluminium production in calendar year 2025.
Why the Baku-Supsa pipeline is back at the center of the energy game
The transfer of operational functions of the Western Route Export Pipeline, better known as the Baku-Supsa pipeline, to the state authorities of Azerbaijan and Georgia may at first glance look like a purely technical development.
Kazakhstan advances reform agenda to attract investment and diversify economy
Kazakhstan is pursuing a broad programme of economic reforms aimed at attracting long-term investment, deepening capital markets and accelerating diversification beyond extractive industries.
Moldova bets on reform, energy and EU membership to attract investors
As Brussels accelerates Moldova's accession path, officials and business leaders argue that one of Europe's poorest countries is becoming one of its most ambitious reform stories
INTERVIEW: Estonia grapples with fiscal strain as surging defence spending tests budget
Estonia faces a difficult path back to fiscal balance after more than doubling defence spending since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Finance Minister Jürgen Ligi tells IntelliNews.
LONG READ: The Post-Pax Americana Interregnum has already started
Empires tend to last about a hundred years, and true to form the Pax Americana has passed its peak. What follows is decades of instability and lower growth as the leading countries of the world vie to fill the void. The Interregnum has started.
Inside the growing speculation around Kim Jong Un’s daughter as heir apparent
According to various intelligence sources, Kim Ju-ae is understood to be the daughter of Kim Jong Un and Ri Sol-ju, although North Korea has never formally confirmed her full biographical details.