Eurasianet

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

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

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

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

A severe food shortage crisis is looming in Afghanistan this winter.

Iran and Georgia considered as alternatives.

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

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.

Tajik officials no longer speak about the militants with complete disdain.

Vaccine hesitancy in Uzbekistan is high, bred by social media conspiracies that seem credible in a country without accountable authorities.

The coronavirus inoculation program is the first in the Caucasus and Central Asia, starting out with Chinese vaccines but incorporating Russian and Western ones at later stages.

The losses to tax revenues will hit the de facto Nagorno-Karabakh government even harder than Yerevan.

The state has set up three “voluntary” funds for Azerbaijanis to cover post-war needs. But widespread reports suggest that people are being forced to contribute.

Ashgabat may hope expending energy to attain international respectability will improve its chances of tapping global financial institutions for investment.