OSCE Summit In Astana To Adapt Organization To New Realities Of 21 Century: US Permanent Representative To OSCE Ian Kelly
One of the most important achievements of Kazakhstan during the years of independence is its election to be the first state in the CIS, Asia, Muslim and Turkic world to chair the OSCE. Our country managed to organize the OSCE Summit on December 1-2 this year in Astana. This event will give a new impetus to the activity of the Organization after 11-year pause in top-level meetings. READ MORE
Kyrgyzstan Votes And Surprises The World
When Kyrgyzstan counted the votes in a parliamentary election Monday, the strong showing of a nationalist party was only one surprise. The bigger surprise was that the results were not a foregone conclusion, making this small, mostly Muslim nation the first in Central Asia to hold free elections in pursuit of a democratic system. READ MORE
Tajikistan Unlikely to Be Test Case for Russia-led Security Group
After declining to intervene in southern Kyrgyzstan’s turmoil over the summer, the Collective Security Treaty Organization is facing a fresh challenge in Tajikistan. And once again the Russia-led security group appears set to refrain from acting. The CSTO’s hesitancy is a reflection of a lack of clarity about the possible mission in Tajikistan, as well as underlying problems with its decision-making mechanism. READ MORE
CSTO: Half Dead, Half Alive
“CORF [Collective Operational Reaction forces] will be no worse than NATO,” claimed Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, only one year ago. Today, these words are used in Russia to popularize the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the CORF within the post-Soviet space. READ MORE
China Showcases Expeditionary Military Power in Peace Mission 2010
On September 9-25, Kazakhstan hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Peace Mission 2010 military exercise, at the Matybulak training range in Zhambyl region, designed to showcase the organization’s capabilities against extremism, separatism and terrorism. READ MORE
Islamists Hit Central Asia In New Strikes
Deadly Unrest Threatens Governments, Imperils Supply Routes in Afghan War. READ MORE
The “Persian Alliance” and Geopolitical Reconfiguration in Central Asia
August 5 marked the fourth occasion in the last four years that the leaders of the Persian-speaking countries of Iran, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan convened, this time in Tehran, to chart the future of their trilateral cooperation. The meeting, dubbed the “Persian summit,” led to a series of agreements in the area of trade, energy, and transport, reaffirming their joint commitment to bolster regional security. READ MORE
Customs Union Project Shows Moscow's Power Deficit
At the beginning of July, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus signed a number of protocols establishing a customs union between the three countries. The union, scheduled to be fully operational in January 2012, will create a single common market of about 170 million people and represents the latest of several attempts by Moscow to create an effective trade bloc with its newly independent neighbors since the break-up of the Soviet Union. In addition to the economic ties maintained through the establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Russia first committed to a union with Belarus in 1994. READ MORE
The US Expands Military Ties with Tajikistan
The US Ambassador to Tajikistan, Ken Gross, announced on June 25 that the US plans to open a military training center in Tajikistan pending the signing of related agreements with the Tajik side. The proposed center, to be located 45 kilometers (km) from the capital, Dushanbe, would provide Tajik armed forces with counternarcotics and antiterrorist training. Gross emphasized that the center, with a price tag of $10 million, did not seek to establish a US military presence in Tajikistan. READ MORE
The Implications of UN-CSTO Cooperation
Kyrgyzstan’s recent upheaval and the war in Afghanistan have obscured the fact that other important developments are occurring in Central Asia. For example, Nikolai Bordyuzha, the secretary-general of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), announced in March that the Russia-dominated security group and the United Nations would henceforth cooperate in countering terrorism, transnational crime (including illegal arms trafficking), and in settling conflicts. READ MORE
