Accused of involvement in stealing billions from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, Prime Minister Najib Razak did what autocratic leaders around the world do when scandal is in the air. He cleared house.
Tony Blair’s most famous catchphrase was ‘Education, education, education’. Now, it really ought to be ‘Money, money, money’.
Mortgage holders picket a bank in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in a demand for their loans to be refinanced following the dramatic fall in value of the national currency, the tenge.
Central Asia is endowed with water and an abundance of rich and varied energy resources — hydropower, oil, gas, and coal. These resources can support increased agricultural production and have the potential to exceed domestic energy demand to supply export markets.
KAZAKHSTAN is a country with two capitals—one political, one cultural. This dichotomy was born of the president’s sudden decision a generation ago to up and move the capital from the ancient city of Almaty to Astana, a remote town remade into a glittering “Manhattan of the steppe.”
Joanna Lillis is a freelance journalist specializing in Central Asian affairs who has been based in Kazakhstan since 2005.
According to various estimates, there are 4,000 Central Asians fighting with various groups in Iraq and Syria
