Dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries as authorities opened fire on protestors. Violence erupting through tear gas. Rubber bullets, followed by live ammunition. Journalists beaten and detained. Pervasive fear, even among those who have hidden inside.

Even though there is no danger of independent parties getting into parliament, authorities fear renewed protests.

Amid anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim discourse, it seems that some refugees are more equal than others when it comes to seeking asylum in Europe

The political systems have more similarities, with super-presidential regimes in all except the Kyrgyz Republic

The dust from the sudden Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has not settled yet, and it is likely that new turmoil is just round the corner. But the fallout of the crisis on neighbouring countries can already be felt, and much more can be anticipated.

Moscow is moving to transform the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) into a more unified political and economic bloc, an apparent response to perceived Western pressure against the grouping.