Category: Publications

Kazakhstan’s National Development Strategies: An Assessment

Central Asia Policy Brief No. 14, December 2013 By Richard Weitz Kazakhstan-2050 strategy affirms the goal of making Kazakhstan, ranked as the world’s 51st most competitive country in 2012, among the 30 most advanced… Continue reading Kazakhstan’s National Development Strategies: An Assessment

Eurasian Integration: The Next Stage

Central Asia Policy Brief No. 13, December 2013 By Jeffrey Mankoff Both the structure of the planned Eurasian Economic Union and Moscow’s hardball tactics to persuade neighboring states to join suggest motivations beyond a… Continue reading Eurasian Integration: The Next Stage

Youth Radicalization in Tajikistan: Causes, Consequences, and Challenges to Address

Central Asia Fellowship Papers No. 2, October 2013 By Safovudin Jaborov Safovudin Jaborov is a Lecturer in the Department of Economics at the Russian-Tajik (Slavic) University in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. He also leads… Continue reading Youth Radicalization in Tajikistan: Causes, Consequences, and Challenges to Address

The Political Economy of Withdrawal and Transition in an Afghan Market Town

Central Asia Policy Brief No. 12, October 2013 By Noah Coburn While the international community focuses on national-level issues, many of the factors that will determine the future stability of Afghanistan are local. Many… Continue reading The Political Economy of Withdrawal and Transition in an Afghan Market Town

Regional Cooperation in Central Asia: Nurturing from the Ground Up

Central Asia Fellows Paper No. 1, October 2013 By Aitolkyn Kourmanova Aitolkyn Kourmanova is the head of the private consultancy Central Asia Strategic Management Group based in Almaty, Kazakhstan. She specializes in economic… Continue reading Regional Cooperation in Central Asia: Nurturing from the Ground Up

Educational Reforms in Turkmenistan: Good Framework, Bad Content?

Central Asia Policy Brief No. 11, September 2013 By Slavomír Horák Turkmenistan’s education system has gone through considerable changes and shifts in the last few years, with ambiguous results. The extension of elementary as… Continue reading Educational Reforms in Turkmenistan: Good Framework, Bad Content?

Eurasia 2014: Into Thin Air

Central Asia Policy Brief No. 10, June 2013 By Eric McGlinchey Factors that produce democracy can produce violence. Drivers of reform are also drivers of radicalism. Predictable indeterminacy is the surprising suddenness of protest… Continue reading Eurasia 2014: Into Thin Air

Foreign Trade Effects of the Customs Union between Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia

Central Asia Economic Paper No. 8, May 2013 By Alexander Libman and Daria Ushkalova The Customs Union constitutes the first regional trade agreement in the post-Soviet space based on effective enforcement of commitments… Continue reading Foreign Trade Effects of the Customs Union between Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Russia

If Only It Was Only Water… The Strained Relationship between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

Central Asia Policy Brief No. 9, May 2013 By Volker Jacoby In spite of ongoing brinkmanship from the two presidents, tensions between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are unlikely to escalate into large-scale violence. External intervention… Continue reading If Only It Was Only Water… The Strained Relationship between Tajikistan and Uzbekistan

Threats and Challenges to Regional Security: Possibilities and Prospects for the Formation of a Collective Security System

Voices From Central Asia No. 11, April 2013 By Konstantin Syroezhkin Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies, Almaty Like any other region, Central Asia has its share of regional problems. They have various… Continue reading Threats and Challenges to Regional Security: Possibilities and Prospects for the Formation of a Collective Security System

The Art of Survival: Kyrgyz Labor Migration, Human Capital, and Social Networks

Central Asia Economic Paper No. 7, April 2013 By Evgeny Vinokurov Age, education, income discrepancy, and unemployment level are the main factors that define the portrait of the Kyrgyz labor migrant. Remittances shape… Continue reading The Art of Survival: Kyrgyz Labor Migration, Human Capital, and Social Networks