Kazakhstan’s Next Elections: Between Reform and Managed Competition

Kazakhstan’s next parliamentary elections are unlikely to determine who governs the country. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s political dominance is not seriously in question. Yet the vote matters because it will test something arguably more significant: whether the “New Kazakhstan” launched after the January 2022 crisis is gradually producing a more… Read More

The Vocabulary of Reform: Why Central Asia Is Reimagining Its Political Traditions

From Kazakhstan’s Kurultai to Uzbekistan’s Mahalla, governments across Central Asia are increasingly framing political reform through institutions rooted in local history rather than imported political models. For much of the three decades following the collapse of the Soviet Union, discussions about political reform in Central Asia were conducted… Read More

Money, boxes and absent men: the hidden economy reshaping Central Asia

Minsk’s Eastern Bet: Why Central Asia Matters More Than Ever