Wednesday, Central Asia watchers were all atwitter over a surprising announcement by Kazakhstan’s long-time president, Nursultan Nazarbayev, that he would aim to devolve some of his powers to Parliament.

A Norwegian appeals court said Tuesday it extended the prison sentence for an American who served as chief legal adviser of fertilizer giant Yara International to seven years for aggravated bribery in India and Libya.

On December 7, 2016, KI Executive Director Charles Davidson testified before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats. Watch the opening statements and first questions here.

An effort by the United States to seize assets from officials who stole their countries’ wealth is now focused on returning the loot without enriching the looters.

Idrissov is headed back to London, as Astana gears up to host Syria talks and takes up a seat on the UN Security Council.

Many were puzzled by Trump’s outreach as Kazakhstan is ruled by an authoritarian dictator, is not a democracy, does not champion or guarantee basic democratic rights such as freedom of speech and press, and is known more for its human rights abuses than its partnership with the U.S. Trump’s nascent and unpublicized nuclear policy is the opposite of Kazakhstan’s nuclear efforts and can impact the blossoming and important partnership.