Central Asia
How Central Asia became a key region for the West
The global significance of Central Asia has been steadily growing. The past year, marked by the tumultuous war in Ukraine and the ensuing confrontation between Russia and the West…
Beijing digs in for the Central Asia-China gas pipeline
China’s ongoing pursuit of a cross-border pipeline with Turkmenistan in Central Asia has repercussions for both the region and Australia.
In October, China’s President Xi…
Beijing’s interest in the Middle Corridor
Reports of Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s recent visit to China and his meeting with President Xi Jinping suggest that Beijing remains interested in the…
Putin steps abroad, even as an international warrant hangs over his head
Over the years, Russia has sought to preserve its sphere of influence with most former Soviet republics using the instrument of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). But…
Why China tripled its heavy truck shipments to Central Asia: Unravelling the influence of Russia’s war in Ukraine
Trade data shows Central Asia’s imports from China are up sharply, as the region is progressively integrated into a Beijing-Moscow economic axis.
Central Asia is increasingly a…
Putin is Xi’s useful idiot
Almost from the moment Russia invaded Ukraine, analysts have debated China’s role in the conflict. The fact that Xi Jinping met Vladimir Putin in Beijing only a few weeks earlier…
Russia’s ally Kazakhstan turns eyes to the West
Kazakhstan, Russia’s nominal ally in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO), seeks to strengthen economic and political ties not only with the West, but also with…
Full steam ahead for the China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway?
At the China-Central Asia summit this month in Xi’an, China’s President Xi Jinping and Kyrgyzstan’s President Sadyr Zhaparov agreed to begin the construction of the China…
Explaining China’s Central Asia pivot
A surge in apprehension followed the establishment last week of a China-Central Asia Summit. “The war in Ukraine has weakened some of Russia’s influence in Central Asia,” warned…
Kazakhstan in the middle
Kazakhstan, a country too often unfairly treated as a punchline rather than a power, is treading a middle road – that of a “middle power”. The Central Asian nation will host a…