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Despite Ashgabat’s fervent diplomacy, one ingredient is missing from its dream project across Afghanistan. Our weekly briefing.

The embassy says it refuses to give back the cash.

The Islamic State in Afghanistan is using the Taliban’s cozy relations with Uzbekistan as propaganda fodder.

The conscripts, generally Tajikistan’s poorest young men, are brutalized into service. And they are the country’s first line of defense.

As hopes for an Afghanistan gas pipeline fade again, there is more upbeat news to the west.

Letters from Washington, cybersecurity cooperation with China, and negotiating with a bankrupt Taliban. This and more in our weekly briefing.

Uzbekistan says it will not accept Afghan refugees.

Since the Taliban took Kabul, Islamic State sympathizers across South Asia have increased attacks on the movement over its ties to China.

Arbitrary collective punishment, breadlines before dawn, and a resurgence of diplomacy. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Over 180 Afghan students who became trapped when the Taliban took power have finally resumed their studies in Bishkek.

Uzbekistan has been discussed as the most likely contender to accept some sort of U.S. military presence, even as Tashkent consistently denies the possibility.

Moscow seems willing to tolerate Taliban rights abuses, if the movement can get the job done.

It will not be the first border facility China has built for Tajikistan.

Middle-class Afghans with the means to navigate Tajikistan’s bureaucracy see the country as a springboard to the West.

The UN began transferring aid supplies through Termez this month.

If the Taliban fail at creating a viable state, Uzbekistan has much to lose.

That sets them apart from Afghanistan’s other post-Soviet neighbor, Tajikistan.

Tajikistan faces its own shortages each winter.

In our weekly briefing: doing business with Afghanistan and Uzbekistan. Plus, it’s reprimand season.

Dushanbe has irked the Taliban by offering a haven to its foes.

The 30th anniversary of independence was evidently not deemed an appropriate time for future planning. All the focus was instead on the past.

Kyrgyzstan has sent a delegation to the Taliban, while neighbor Tajikistan flirts with the Afghan resistance.

Ashgabat has pursued a notably distinct line in its engagements with the Taliban. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Uzbekistan has pushed the case for dialogue with the new rulers in Kabul.

Cotton quotas, measuring COVID mortality from space, and the dauphin takes on the economy. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.