Monthly Archive

  France's top appeals court on Wednesday overturned a decision to extradite a former Kazakh banker whose dual roles as opposition leader and fugitive from justice led to legal cases in four cou read more..

  With no evidence that Russia has any plans to withdraw its troops from the border of Ukraine, some former Soviet states are worried about their own regional security. Farther east, other count read more..

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's eldest daughter Dariga will lead her father's party faction in parliament and become the legislature's deputy speaker, marking her comeback from the political s... read more..

  A reshuffle in Kazakhstan has brought a veteran insider back to lead the government amid fears of trouble on the domestic and international fronts. President Nursultan Nazarbayev reappoin read more..

  The United States will "fundamentally stand" with post-Soviet Central Asian nations to protect their territorial integrity and independence, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday, sending a read more..

  Developed by Western Oil Companies, Giant Project Off Kazakhstan Is Years Late, More Than $30 Billion Over Budget. Kazakh workers were recuperating from the frigid temperatures of the Cas read more..

  Should EU and US sanctions hit Russian energy exports, Kazakhstan will suffer collateral damage via their participation in a regional oil pipeline consortium, according to Oil & Energy Ins read more..

A senior U.S. official will travel to two countries in Central Asia next week to emphasize U.S. support for the independence of post-Soviet states after Russia's annexation of Crimea. Assistant S... read more..

  Central Asian states have responded to the events in Ukraine by staying silent or issuing cautiously worded statements. With his biggest prize escaping his grasp in Ukraine, Vladimir Pu read more..

Rakhat Aliyev's name is back in a Maltese court even though he may be thousands of miles away in some other country. This is because two former bodyguards have launched a fresh challenge for the Polic... read more..

The top man at NATO has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of an outrageous push to redraw the world map. The U.N. secretary-general warned darkly on Thursday that small incidents can "quickly l... read more..

  The brother of the president of Kazakhstan is asking a Manhattan judge to force a settlement that would strip his ex-wife of a $20 million Plaza pad — even though she negotiated the deal while read more..

President Vladimir Putin's impulsive incursion into Ukrainian territory has left Russia more isolated than at any time since the Cold War. Predictably, the European Union and the United States have lo... read more..

This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin pulled off a rigged referendum in which an overwhelming majority of Crimean voters chose union with the Russian Federation. But his victory is far from comp... read more..

  On March 12, Mustafa Dzhemilev, a leading figure among the ethnic Crimean Tatars, had a long conversation over the phone with Vladimir Putin. No doubt, they talked about the referendum that wa read more..

Austrian lawyer Gabriel Lansky is hunting down one-time oligarch Rakhat Aliyev, although it is unsure whether the Kazakh millionaire is still in Malta. The Kazakh exile Rakhat Aliyev could have h... read more..

  CORROSIVE corruption, submissive courts, poverty lapping at the gates of presidential palaces: the parallels between the regimes of Central Asia's autocrats and that of the fallen Ukrainian pr read more..

  The Russian government tells the world that the Russian-speaking people of Ukraine need to be protected. The de facto annexation of Crimea has occurred. A logical and necessary step from Putin read more..

For most former Soviet states, the consensus about Russia's overtures in Crimea is very simple: It's bad. Georgia, itself on the receiving end of Russia's military in 2008, isn't too pleased, wit... read more..

In every country, all truly important foreign-policy choices are, at their core, ultimately about domestic politics. And it's not just about creating a "rally 'round the flag" effect, or distracting read more..

On February 11, Kazakhstan's central bank devalued the national currency, the tenge, by 19 percent against the US dollar. It said the gradual decrease of the US Federal Reserve's stimulus program had ... read more..

  The situation in Ukraine has increased the internal tension in the CIS and will complicate the relations between its member countries, Russian political analyst Dmitry Oreshkin told Rosbalt (w read more..

In 1918, US President Woodrow Wilson said that for one year he had been "sweating blood" under the Russian question. According to Woodrow Wilson: A Life for World Peace, he wrote to the House: "I ha read more..

  As illustrated by recent events in Ukraine, the post-Soviet space is still undergoing significant economic and political transformations. After the Soviet Union collapsed, the world welcomed 1 read more..

  The Russia-Ukraine crisis is having a profoundly unsettling effect on authoritarian-minded governments in Central Asia. On the one hand, they are keen to keep the forces unleashed by the Eurom read more..

Two Kazakh nationals have made a renewed police challenge, to ask the Maltese law courts to investigate their accusations of torture against Kazakh exile Rakhat Aliyev, who resides in Malta. De read more..

  Given its proximity to Russia and Ukraine, Poland could run several risks and find some opportunities related to the on-going standoff in Crimea. On Monday, Polskie Gornictwo Naftowe i Ga read more..

  Kyrgyzstan was once known for its Tulip Revolution, a name the followed the trend of color-coded revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine. The ouster of the corrupt regime of President Askar Akaye read more..

President Nazarbayev has turned Kazakhstan into a Central Asian powerhouse. He is 73, and shows no sign of giving up the reins. But there are riches at stake, and people waiting in the wings. K read more..

Ukraine is the size of Texas, but for the last three months its burgeoning protest movement has largely crowded into the space of 10 city blocks. The name for the movement itself, Euromaidan, is a neo... read more..