The tiny independent region of Karakalpakstan is one of many places chafing against arbitrary borders imposed by former empires.
Read More »Uzbekistan Eyes Pakistan’s Gwadar Port for Exports
A southbound logistics corridor via the Gwadar Port can increase regional connectivity and trade, offering Central Asian states direct access to the deepsea port. Plans are also afoot to connect Uzbekistan with Pakistan via Afghanistan through railway.
Read More »2018, A Year of Central Asia’s Regional Thaw
A relaxation of long-standing regional tensions was the most noticeable process in Central Asia in 2018. If the trend continues, individual countries will be better positioned to muddle through domestic problems and deal with complex international relations and security issues in 2019 and beyond.
Read More »Why is Turkey So Eager to be Led Down the Belt and Road?
The magic of the Belt and Road Initiative is not the economic benefits it will offer Turkey or China. Rather, it is how the BRI taps into Ankara’s desperation to find alternatives to its economic and strategic partners such as Germany and the United States, and how it supports China’s desire to establish its own economic architecture.
Read More »Pakistan: A Complete Encirclement?
Can an apologetic policy towards the Afghan Taliban really help Pakistan end its global isolation and put it on the path to development?
Read More »Iran’s Chabahar Port and the Strategic Turf Wars
Iran’s Chabahar port is challenging the significance of Pakistan’s Gwadar deep sea port. The project is strategically important particularly for India due to its land access to Afghanistan and Central Asia which is otherwise blocked by the territory of Pakistan.
Read More »Central Asia’s Future: Three Powers, Three Visions
China, Russia and the U.S. each have visions to connect Central Asia with the rest of Eurasia.
Read More »Geopolitics of Pakistan-China Economic Corridor
Advice from China to Pakistan is unequivocally clear and categorical: develop consensus on the proposed China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
Read More »China Challenges Russian Influence in Kazakhstan
China wants to counterbalance Russian influence in Central Asia by expanding its economic activities, trade and transport projects in the region. As Russia suffers recession and the political isolation due to the conflict in Ukraine, its influence in Kazakhstan and Central Asia may decrease.
Read More »View from India: Behind Delhi’s ‘Pakistan Quandary’
India needs subtle strategies to contain and counter “threats” from Pakistan. The jingoistic and threatening rhetoric in a section of Indian media in response to each “provocation” from Pakistan does India no good. India’s power ought to be felt by its adversaries and not flaunted.
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