Bruce Pannier is a Central Asia analyst and appears regularly on the Majlis podcast for RFE/RL.
The Kremlin surprised many with the media machine it unleashed on the world after pro-Moscow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in 2014. How is it working in Central Asia?
Amnesty International has released a report documenting the inability of the families of Afghan civilians killed in attacks by U.S. and other foreign forces to obtain justice.
The Reporters Without Borders report was issued on March 12 to coincide with World Day Against Cyber-Censorship and seeks to draw attention to "government units and agencies that implement online censorship and surveillance."
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has outlined plans to reboot Russia's sluggish military to the tune of nearly $800 billion.
Almazbek Atambaev, leader of Kyrgyzstan's Social Democratic Party, looked set to become the country's fourth president after cruising to a comfortable first-round victory on October 30.
In agreeing on gas shipments for Turkish consumption, Turkish and Azerbaijani leaders have resolved one of the biggest obstacles to sending Caspian region gas to Europe. Now the game is on to see which of three proposed pipelines, including the EU's long-delayed Nabucco project, gets the bid.
A protest that began as a small-scale strike with a few hundred oil workers has awoken the country's long dormant labor movement, and is growing into the greatest organized challenge the Kazakh government has faced in 10 years.
Keymir Berdiev, son of a longtime opposition activist, faces a deportation to his native Turkmenistan that he is willing to fight with his life. Authorities in Sweden, where Berdiev was seeking asylum, planned to deport him on May 20.
The government of Kyrgyzstan decided earlier this month to seek entry into the CIS Customs Union. The authorities are advertising the move as a way to avoid further economic hardship. But there are some who question whether joining the union with Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus is the solution to Kyrgyzstan's problems.
While it's been more than a decade since terrorism came to Central Asia, the region's governments have mostly kept a lid on it. But now in the region's southeastern corner a "perfect storm" is forming, as the region's two poorest countries, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, are rapidly becoming fertile soil for militants.
In the year since President Kurmanbek Bakiev's overthrow in April 2010, a series of events has provided Russia with opportunities to reassert its presence and keep the Kyrgyz government deeply in the Kremlin's debt.
Rock 'n' roll and rap music have been added to Uzbek media's unofficial list of cultural forms to be wary of. The contemporary forms of music are only the latest victims of a campaign to mold model citizens in Uzbekistan, citizens who avoid the excesses of both the East and the West.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev wraps up a visit to China and heads home with lucrative contracts to supply China with energy resources and promises of some $7 billion in Chinese loans for projects in Kazakhstan.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev's victory in early elections in April is a foregone conclusion thanks largely to more than a decade of his tinkering with election laws and the constitution. But Nazarbaev may have some good reasons for wanting to stay on another five years and for holding elections so soon.
Being a law-enforcement officer is never an easy job. Being a member of an elite unit tasked with maintaining order during unrest or combating terrorists is even more difficult. Besides the personal risk, there is the possibility of severe consequences if events turn out unexpectedly. We look at one such serviceman in Kyrgyzstan who gave his life for a state that was prepared to put him in jail.
Kazakhstan first proposed the idea then decided against it. Now Tajikistan has agreed to it. Farmers from China are coming to Tajikistan to grow cotton and rice in a move that has left many in Tajikistan feeling ignored and concerned.
A joint session of the Kazakh parliament, occupied entirely by members of the ruling party and presidentially appointed deputies, votes unanimously to hold a referendum on greatly extending the president's mandate.
The European Union and Azerbaijan have signed a long-awaited agreement on natural-gas supplies in Baku that pumps new life into Brussels' energy plans.
Russia's Gazprom says it's found a significant volume of gas in Tajikistan -- not a large amount, but enough to change the country's fortunes and possibly the regional balance of power.
Amnesty International has found fault with Kyrgyz authorities' efforts to bring to justice those behind the ethnic violence that erupted in the south of the country this June. In a new report, the rights group says most of those brought to trial so far have been ethnic Uzbeks -- and questions if there has been enough attention paid to the actions of ethnic Kyrgyz. Authorities in Bishkek have rejected the report, saying everyone is treated equally before the law.
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