Tinkering with the legislature, megaprojects for the dauphin, and talking about coronavirus without mentioning coronavirus: This and more in our weekly briefing.
There is no plangent chest-beating here – just a powerful, sympathetic account of the lives that are ruined when cruel rulers become addicted to their own power.
Is it incompetence, old-fashioned embezzlement and corruption, or a lack of loyalty that worries the president? This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.
A steadier oil market has helped Kazakhstan’s National Oil Fund regain its footing. But Kazakhstan’s other fund, Samruk-Kazyna, has struggled in its privatization drive.
Absent explanation from the Trump administration, there are a number of possible rationalizations, from Islamic State to the glut of fake Kyrgyz passports traveling the world.
Turkmenistan struggles to operate its synthetic gasoline plant, chokes off imports from Iran, and demands the elderly wait in long lines to prove they’re not dead. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.
What do these three things have in common: a Kyrgyz gold mine, a Malaysian Ponzi scheme, and canned camel milk? If you said the Belt and Road Initiative, Beijing wants a word with you.
