Tag: EURASIA

  • Russia’s Post-Soviet Neighbors

    Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has transformed the security, economic, and geopolitical environments for Russia’s neighbors. Ukraine is at war. Three Russian neighbors—Belarus, China, and North Korea—are supporting the Russian invasion through various means and to various degrees. Three others—the Baltic States—are assisting Ukraine through the NATO alliance. The picture is more complex for

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  • The Middle Corridor Linking Asia and Europe: Promise and Challenges

    The Middle Corridor, also known as the Trans-Caspian International Transit Route (TITR), is an emerging transcontinental, multi-modal network of transit routes. It offers an alternative both to the Northern Route through Russian territory and to the sea-based routes that dominate Asia-Europe trade. In particular, the Middle Corridor links China to the Central Asian states, passing

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  • The China-Central Asia Crossroads

    The Chinese and Central Asian peoples have interacted for more than two millennia; Russia, by contrast, has only been active in the region for the last two centuries. Since gaining independence in 1991, the Central Asian states have again forged steadily growing ties with China. These ties advanced significantly in 2013 when Xi Jinping formally

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  • The Gulf States and Central Asia: Converging Foreign Policies?

    Gulf state activity in Central Asia has steadily increased in recent years. The growing ties come due to shared religion and culture, alongside burgeoning trade, investment, and development initiatives from the Gulf region. This turn of events comes as a very welcome development for Central Asian states, offering them another direction for their various multi-vector

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  • Afghanistan and Central Asia Since the Taliban Takeover

    The shockwaves of the August 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and subsequent Taliban takeover have reverberated across Central Asia. In a water scarce region, Taliban efforts to build the long-desired Qosh Tepa Canal on the Amu Darya River and a water diversion project on the Helmand River have strained relations with downstream Central Asian states

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