Eurasianet

Out-of-touch elites, poor planning, and some signs of progress in regional trade. Our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

While the country continues easing other COVID-19 restrictions, why has it not begun to allow travelers to cross the border by land?

The president-in-waiting plans to change nothing. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

The government said the system was useless against the Omicron variant, but critics accused them of pandering to anti-vaxxer sentiment.

The country has belatedly introduced a COVID pass system to enter restaurants and bars as the vaccination rate remains at just 28 percent.

As the president readies the public for yet another year of shortages, he has taken money from an economic stabilization fund to breed more horses. This and more in our weekly briefing.

In our weekly briefing: The Taliban visit Ashgabat, the dauphin is received by Uzbekistan’s president, and authorities tighten control after unrest in neighboring Kazakhstan.

Tbilisi’s world-famous nightclubs were the country’s last businesses to reopen following the COVID lockdown. But it took a confrontation with the authorities to make it happen.

Similar systems have been used around the world to encourage vaccinations. But under Georgia’s, you may be better off not being vaccinated at all.

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

Most of the tourists came overland from neighboring Turkey and Russia.

Employers are now effectively required to demand proof of vaccinations from their workers. But the country’s health care system is now being pushed to the limit.

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.

The government hopes to boost vaccination rates, but a new anti-vaccine campaign is on the rise.