Opinion: Why Agriculture Cannot Afford to Overlook Women Farmers
Imagine a team where only half the players receive training, equipment and support. That team cannot perform at its full potential. The same is true in agriculture. Women farmers are essential across Europe and Central Asia. They grow food, raise livestock, run farms and sustain rural economies. They work the...
The Middle East’s New Rivalry Runs Through Central Asia
Eighty years after Winston Churchill described an Iron Curtain dividing Europe from Stettin to Trieste, another geopolitical rivalry is emerging across the Middle East, with the swing states of Central Asia and the South Caucasus poised to play a pivotal role. From Gwadar to the Golden Horn, the new Mecca...
Trump Reaffirms Support for Kazakhstan Ahead of G20 Summit
United States President Donald Trump has reaffirmed his support for Kazakhstan’s independence and territorial integrity and said he looks forward to meeting President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at the Group of Twenty (G20) summit in December. The remarks were made in a congratulatory message marking Kazakhstan’s Republic Day, published by Kazakhstan’s presidential...
In Memory of Roza Aitmatova
Roza Aitmatova died on October 26, 2026, at the age of 89. She was the younger sister of Chingiz Aitmatov, one of the most important writers of the 20th century. With her death, Kyrgyzstan has lost an invaluable witness to its history. She succeeded in turning the tragedies endured by...
Apple Pay and Google Pay Begin Rollout in Uzbekistan
Apple Pay and Google Pay began rolling out in Uzbekistan on October 27, allowing customers of local banks to add eligible Visa and Mastercard cards to their digital wallets to make contactless payments. The launch marks another step in Uzbekistan's efforts to integrate its banking system with international payment services,...
Interview: Alina Mustafina on Her New Book and Freedom in Filmmaking
Kazakh filmmaker and writer Alina Mustafina moved from Almaty to Dubai before relocating to Barcelona with her husband. There, she studied film directing after working as a journalist, a career change she recounts in her second book, Between Heaven and Cinema: When a Dream Changes the Route. Her debut feature...
Brazilian Funk’s Kazakh Side Hustle
Orpheus took music somewhere it had no business going. Luís Guilherme Gonçalves, known as DJ Guilherme, created a beat that has managed something less fatal but almost as improbable. A Brazilian funk track born in São Paulo has found an unlikely second home in Kazakhstan, where local creators have embraced...
CSTO in No Hurry to Help Tajikistan
The authorities in Tajikistan have been ringing the alarm bells over events in neighboring Afghanistan for more than three decades. The Tajik government did so again after violence broke out along a small section of the Tajik-Afghan border in the last months of 2025, and specifically called on the Collective...
Accelerating Arrests, Command Cleanouts, and Retreating Regional Rights
Short Stories from the Region
