Russia and the US: An Alliance in the Making
Russia under the leadership of Vladimir Putin has regained standing for his nation in the last decade. The combination of high energy prices and...
Kazakhstan’s Snap Election Affirm Nazarbayev’s Power in Uncertain Environments
The Kazakhstan snap Parliamentary elections were held on 20 March 2016. The snap elections were called amidst economic turmoil and fears that the Kazakhstan...
Great Gains or Great Game?: Global Engagement across Central Asia
Alexander Cooley in his book, Great Games Local Rules, describes a new great game where the post-soviet states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and...
21 March: Navroz, The Recurrent Renewal
May the soul flourish;May youth be as the new-grown grain Navroz, usually celebrated on 21 March in Iran and Central Asia, is the “New...
Putin, Dugin and the Coming Wild Ride on Leviathan
It does not strain the imagination to snare drum tautness to imagine Vladimir Putin, bare chested in his best rodeo persona, bronco-busting Leviathan. However,...
The Russian Federation’s geopolitics
In a now famous speech delivered at the Conference on Security, held in Munich in 2007, Vladimir Putin harshly clarified the structural determinants of...
Astana 2017: contents and projects of the next International Exhibition
On 24 and 25 February Astana hosted the second Meeting of International Participants of “Future Energy” EXPO which will take place in the capital...
Mongolia and the New Russian Oil Diplomacy
Russia signed an inter-governmental agreement in early late January 2016 that would resettle Mongolia’s debt to Russia which totaled $172 million, 97 per cent...
Chechnya an Unresolved Conflict in the Caucasus
Chechnya today is a federal subject of Russia but long been a boiling point. Al Jazeera report point out that, “it remains a historic...
Hard and Soft Power in the Caspian: Russian and Iranian Objectives
Two of the five states that border the Caspian Sea can be considered hegemonic in the region: Russia and Iran. Although this is beneficial...