Kazakhstan Prepares QazETA Entry Authorization for Visa-Free Travelers
Kazakhstan is preparing to change entry rules for citizens of countries that enjoy visa-free travel: before their trip, they may be required to obtain an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA). The system remains voluntary for now, but legislation already suggests that authorities are preparing for their phased mandatory introduction. The new...
Water in Central Asia: Can the Five States Reach an Agreement?
Central Asia is entering a period of growing water stress, as climate change makes supplies less predictable while demand continues to rise. Populations are growing, economies require new energy and industrial capacity, glaciers are shrinking, and agriculture continues to consume most of the available water. The region’s two main rivers...
Kyrgyzstan-Pakistan Trade: 12-Fold Growth or Pipe Dream?
One of the most notable of Kyrgyzstan’s agreements at the SCO Summit in Bishkek last week may be its deal with Pakistan to boost annual bilateral trade to US$200 million within the next two years. From a base of roughly US$16 million in 2025, that would represent roughly a twelvefold...
Kazakhstan Takes Center Stage in U.S. House Critical Minerals Hearing
Kazakhstan’s growing role in global critical-mineral supply chains came into sharp focus on Capitol Hill on September 2. During a nearly four-hour hearing of the full U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, lawmakers and expert witnesses repeatedly presented the country as a major resource producer, an established U.S. supplier and...
How the U.S. Is Building a Critical Minerals Chain Across Central Asia
The United States is trying to turn its political dialogue with Central Asia into concrete projects for mining and processing critical minerals. American capital is already moving into Kazakhstan’s tungsten sector and has long been present in Tajikistan’s antimony industry, while Washington is looking more closely at the mineral potential...
Western Tourism Interest Grows Around World Nomad Games
More than 3,000 athletes from 104 countries gathered in Bishkek on August 31 as the World Nomad Games returned to Kyrgyzstan, a sharp increase from the 583 competitors from 19 countries who attended the inaugural event at Issyk-Kul 12 years ago. Tour operators are also seeing more Western travelers, many...
Five Years Without Recognition: How Central Asia Is Building Relations with Afghanistan
Five years of Taliban rule have shown that international relations with an unrecognized government can go much further than many imagined after the fall of Kabul in August 2021. Russia remains the only country to have formally recognized Afghanistan’s current authorities, yet the complete isolation some expected has not materialized....
One Target, 145 Meters: Kyrchyn’s Archers Take on Korea’s Long-Range Test
The archers formed a long, uneven line across the grass at Kyrchyn Gorge on Friday, bows rising almost in unison beneath a bank of clouds. Their target was 145 meters away, far enough for the arrows to climb visibly before dropping back toward the range. It was the final and...
Russia’s Return to Afghanistan, New Chinese Jets, and Kazakhstan’s Legislative Election
Short Stories from the Region
