Central Asia

Almost 500 extremist channels on Telegram, VKontakte, and other networks spread propaganda and vie for recruits. Most of them have ties to the Islamic State.

Members of the criminal underworld have long turned to politics to avoid prosecution. Ousting one set of corrupt leaders in favor of another won’t end the country’s crisis.

The Central Asian state is the latest post-Soviet republic jolted by an electoral crisis. But the ongoing protests are driven by internal dynamics, not international ones.

The Kremlin didn’t invent term limit resets and constitutional referendums. The autocratic leaders of Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan blazed the trail.

Washington has a golden opportunity to counter China’s gains.

Conventional wisdom holds that New Delhi will turn to Washington as it increases competition with Beijing. But Moscow’s importance cannot be ignored.

Companies should not buy Uzbekistan’s cotton until labor protections and responsible sourcing are guaranteed.

The Islamist group is using the coronavirus crisis for propaganda—with potentially dire consequences for those living under its control.

Despite border closures, Russia and others may be pushed even closer to Beijing.

It could help modernize the country’s economy.

Authoritarian states have been downplaying numbers. That won’t last.

Testimonies and eyewitness accounts suggest the mass incarceration of ethnic Hui in China’s northwest.

Hobbled by the impeachment trial, the U.S. secretary of state faces the tricky task of explaining a Trump administration policy that has often looked two-faced.

On the Kazakh border, a new city grows.

Autocrats are handing their citizens’ data to Beijing under so-called smart city programs.

U.S.-favored policies in Central Asia must be rolled back to help save the Uighur people.

The upcoming Disney film is already a cultural battleground. But China’s most famous heroine thrives in many tellings.

Despite optimistic signs from U.S.-led peace talks in Qatar, Afghanistan’s future looks bleak.

Nazarbayev’s successor has an impressive foreign profile but a raft of domestic problems.