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All Things Must Pass

By Andrew Slov

‘Kyrgyz question’ will become one of the central ones at December’s OSCE Summit in Astana? READ MORE

Central Asia’s Perfect Storm

By Kenneth Weisbrode

Dean Acheson, US President Harry Truman’s Secretary of State, liked to quote a friend who said that being in government made him scared, but that being out of it made him worried. To those of us not privy to the hidden complexities of NATO’s military intervention in Afghanistan, the situation there – and across Central Asia -- is extremely worrisome. READ MORE

Islamists Hit Central Asia In New Strikes

By Yaroslav Trofimov in Kabul and Alan Cullison in Moscow

Deadly Unrest Threatens Governments, Imperils Supply Routes in Afghan War. READ MORE

The “Persian Alliance” and Geopolitical Reconfiguration in Central Asia

By Roman Muzalevsky

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

Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan: Signs of Real Rapprochement

By Dmitry Slavin

Today the foreground of international relations includes the issues of arrangement and holding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tashkent this June. The Heads of SCO member-states are constantly substantially exchanging views on the situation within Central Asian region. A significant defining factor is the relations between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, which gain the tendency to rapprochement. READ MORE

Speech By NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

at NATO's New Strategic Concept - Global, Transatlantic and Regional Challenges and Tasks Ahead - Warsaw, Poland READ MORE

Questions for the OSCE

By Arthur Dunn

2010 is very momentous for the OSCE: the 35th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act as well as the 20th anniversary of the Charter of Paris, which has put an end to the ‘Сold War’, are to be marked. READ MORE

RFE/RL Interview: U.S. Vice President Joe Biden

In an exclusive interview, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden spoke with RFE/RL correspondents Brian Whitmore and Abubakar Siddique about the U.S. administration's policy on Russia, the Caucasus, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. Biden assured Central and Eastern Europeans of the United States' commitment to the region, and said that the United States will not ignore concerns about democracy in dealing with Iran on its nuclear program. READ MORE

New NATO Chief Favors Dialog With Moderate Taliban

The new head of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen says he is ready to open a dialog with moderate Taliban elements. His comments come amid reports that western soldiers were killed by insurgents in Afghanistan on Saturday. READ MORE

Kazakhstan’s Strategic Significance

The decision by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to award Kazakhstan the chairmanship of the organization for 2010 underscores a growing recognition of the country’s regional and continental importance. Kazakhstan is a strategic linchpin in the vast Central Asian-Caspian Basin zone, a region rich in energy resources and a potential gateway for commerce and communications between Europe and Asia. READ MORE