Kazakhstan's recent presidential election – won by incumbent Nursultan Nazarbayev with an extraordinary 95.5 percent of the vote and an 89 percent turnout – was controversial in many quarters.
A visit by a European parliamentary fact-finding delegation to Turkmenistan encountered problems in Ashgabat, including restricted access to a prison. But despite the mixed impressions of delegation members, the European Union is expected to take steps soon to strengthen its ties to Turkmenistan.
Armenian analysts say Georgia’s recent move to block a transit route for Armenia-bound Russian military supplies did not come as a surprise. But officials in Yerevan still aren’t commenting on how Russia and Armenia will get around the transit corridor’s closure.
Azerbaijan’s recent move to indefinitely postpone joint military exercises with the United States is a sign that bilateral strategic ties are stagnating, analysts in Baku believe. Some wonder whether the social-network-inspired unrest that has swept the Middle East and North Africa, and which has also touched Azerbaijan, played a role in Baku’s decision.
Armenia’s civil rights record isn’t exactly unblemished, but to thousands of Iranians eager to hear pop singers banned in Iran, the conservative South Caucasus country still ranks as a land of liberty.
On the field, a recent qualifying match between the Armenian and Russian national teams ended in a scoreless draw. Outside the stadium, the football contest kicked up an emotional debate among Armenians about the two countries’ strategic partnership.
A recent uptick in diplomatic activity in southern Kyrgyzstan indicates Russia’s rising presence and influence in the country, which gives Russia substantial leverage over regional powers like Uzbekistan and global players like the United States.
The last time I laid eyes on Tajikistan before emigrating in 1991, the country was on its final descent into civil war. I was too young to understand the forces at work that were driving people toward conflict, but not young enough to be indifferent. The disintegration of the Soviet Union left the country with little direction and no leadership.
An increasing number of protests in Azerbaijan in recent months has Baku viewing Iran as a possible instigator of unrest. Although Iran has some levers in Azerbaijan, such as a large Shiite population, several factors — including Russia’s potential involvement — will lead Tehran to proceed with caution in its attempts to destabilize the Azerbaijani government.
