Central Asia is seldom covered in the international press and when it is, it is often condensed politically, geographically, and economically into a single unit — an amalgamation that does the job but doesn’t do it well.

This is part of an occasional series examining China’s efforts to win friends and clients in Asia and to assert a more dominant role across the continent.

KKR & Co. founder Henry Kravis, Blackstone Group LP Chairman Stephen Schwarzman and Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein were among the guests when Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev hosted a dinner in New York.

Divergent interests in Russia’s dispute with Turkey and Armenia’s conflict with Azerbaijan restrict the CSTO.

Opponents and rights groups have accused authorities in Kazakhstan of clamping down on free speech on the internet in order to keep a lid on discontent as falling oil prices push down people's real incomes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law that allows the Constitutional Court of Russia to decide whether or not to comply with judgements made by international rights courts – a measure seen as a response to Russia losing many cases in Strasbourg, and being ordered to pay large sums of money.