Eurasianet

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

Kazakhstan is moving through the production cycle, powered by Chinese demand.

Kazakh exporters say China is pushing them aside, interested in a transit corridor but not a supplier.

Government agencies and Kazakh-Chinese companies are using the pandemic to shield themselves from scrutiny.

Two new papers find that Georgia and Azerbaijan would gain more from improving trade with their neighbors than pursing a place on the Belt and Road.

Bunin has also been banned from entering Uzbekistan.

Central Asia’s largest nations are using unique coronavirus vaccines that haven’t been carefully studied. Do they have a choice?

The Taliban has assured the region’s governments that it has no designs on them, but can it keep more hostile groups in check?

Despite ambitions for Karabakh reconstruction, the government's overall construction budget has barely budged.

The country already leads in vaccination rates in the South Caucasus. Many expect the new rules to drive a black market for fake vaccination passports.

Ashgabat has great confidence these days in its Europe-bound exports. Plus, a mysterious tragedy on the Afghan border. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

A few months ago, the thought of taking a Chinese COVID vaccine was unthinkable to Georgians. Now it’s the norm.

Baku, a frequent borrower, says it didn’t like the terms.

Abu Dhabi invests in green energy, China gets another drilling contract, and Ashgabat cuts funding to universities. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

But the end of onerous debt-servicing duties will not spell an imminent transformation in fortunes.