Eurasianet

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

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

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

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

In recent years the Caucasus country has become a magnet for Iranian students, business owners, and dissidents. But now many report they’re not being allowed to enter.

While clumsy on COVID-19, Turkmenistan is being more sure-footed, or consistent at least, on the Afghanistan front. Plus, unsustainable agriculture. Our weekly briefing.

The government signals it is taking COVID a bit more seriously, without admitting the virus is running rampant. And Ashgabat gets down to business with the Taliban. This and more in our weekly briefing.

There has been a surge in the number of Pakistanis visiting for tourism.

Iranians have been flooding into Armenia to get COVID vaccines, causing Tehran to complain and Yerevan to tighten the rules.

Spraying chlorine, new infrastructure on the Afghan border, and claims of a naturally occurring COVID vaccine. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan bulletin.

Travel bans, dams and Russian fans. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

A facile and naïve plan being discussed in Washington risks backfiring on Iran’s minority Christians.

Rigged elections have created political crises in two other post-Soviet countries this year, leaving Nur-Sultan edgy ahead of a parliamentary vote.

Hypocritical election congratulations underscore the cold strategic underpinnings of a bloc that is as much about politics as it is about trade.