As Eurasia becomes a hotbed of strategic alliances amid growing geopolitical uncertainty stretching from Afghanistan to Ukraine, the United States has dispatched a high-level delegation on a five-day visit to Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan to strengthen its relations with the Central Asian countries.
On the picture: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets his Kazakh counterpart, Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, in Ankara on May 10.
Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev said after a visit to Ankara for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that a new transportation route connecting China with European markets bypassing Russia is important for the two nations.
When US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III declared that Washington wanted to see Russia so “weakened” that it would no longer be able to invade a neighbouring state, he lifted the veil on US goals in Ukraine. He also held out the prospect of a long-term US-Russian contest for power and influence.
Protesters take part in a rally over a hike in energy prices in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on Jan. 5. Abduaziz Madyarov/AFP via Getty Images
Harrowing images of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have shocked the public—but also raised tough questions about whose lives matter in the West.Critics have focused on the telling contrast in coverage between the welcome given to Ukrainian refugees and the cold shoulder given to those from countries like Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan as well as the lack of assistance provided to African and South Asian students trying to leave Ukraine. Before the Russian invasion, however, another country in Eurasia elicited similar questions.
Fighting Graft in Almaty Will Also Test Western Anticorruption Commitments
