Kazakhstan

Cyber

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov announced the opening of an artificial intelligence lab in Astana, Kazakhstan, to develop new AI services for the app's more than one billion users, KazTAG reported on Oct. 2. 

Kazakhstan: Telegram Opens AI Lab in Astana as Oil Wealth Fuels AI Ambitions

China

Energy

Politics

The chair of Kazakhstan's nuclear energy agency, Almasadam Satkaliyev, announced that a state commission had approved a site in the Almaty region for the country's second large nuclear power plant, KazTAG reported on Oct. 1.

Kazakhstan: Government Plans Second Nuclear Plant in Energy-Deficient South

Russia

Economics

Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin said Astana will issue up to $2 billion in yuan-denominated bonds in 2025, Bloomberg reported on Sept. 22. 

Kazakhstan, China: Kazakhstan Plans Yuan Debt Sale To Deepen China Ties

Turkey

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan co-chaired the fifth High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council in Ankara, which produced 20 intergovernmental agreements covering a variety of sectors, Kazinform reported on July 30.

Kazakhstan: Tokayev-Erdogan Summit Revives Strategic Ties, Anchors Oil and Transit Cooperation

South Africa

United States

Japan

Laos

Malaysia

Myanmar

South Korea

On July 7, U.S. President Donald Trump published on Truth Social seven letters addressed to the leaders of South Korea, South Africa, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Kazakhstan and Laos informing them that the United States would begin implementing 25%-40% tariffs on their goods on Aug. 1, adding that the rate would double if the countries increased tariffs on U.S. goods in retaliation.

U.S.: Trump Announces 25% to 40% Tariffs From Aug. 1 on Seven Trading Partners

Ethiopia

Nigeria

Uganda

Brazil

Cuba

Iran

United Arab Emirates

Indonesia

Thailand

Vietnam

Uzbekistan

Belarus

India

BRICS+ leaders gathered in Brazil for the bloc's 17th summit and issued a joint statement defending multilateralism, calling for U.N. reform and supporting Russia's and Iran's positions in ongoing conflicts, g1 reported on July 6.

BRICS+: Bloc Increasingly Leans Away From West, but Avoids Picking Fights With U.S.

Kazakhstan's atomic energy agency announced that Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom and China's state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) have both been selected to lead two separate projects to build nuclear power plants in the country, Reuters reported June 14. 

Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan Selects Russia and China for Separate Nuclear Power Plant Projects

Angola

Algeria

Iraq

Kuwait

Oman

Saudi Arabia

OPEC+ agreed to increase oil production by 411,000 barrels per day in July, the organization announced in a May 31 communique.

Global: OPEC+ Approves Third Accelerated Production Hike, But Russia-Saudi Tensions May Rise

Assessments

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev waits to greet foreign leaders during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states leaders' summit in Astana on July 4, 2024.

Despite President Tokayev's reform proposals, Kazakhstan's succession process will remain vulnerable to destabilizing forces, including elite rivalries and foreign influence.

How Kazakhstan's Proposed Reforms Will Impact the Question of Succession

Azerbaijan

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary To Lam (L) address journalists following their talks in Moscow, Russia, on May 10, 2025, during celebrations of the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. 

Military & Security

Vietnam is strengthening its relationships with Eurasian countries, especially Russia, as it looks to further diversify economic and energy ties away from great powers amid an unstable geopolitical landscape.

Russia-Vietnam Ties Are Set To Grow Following Lam's Eurasia Tour

The OPEC logo is seen outside the bloc's headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on Oct. 4, 2022.

The production boost will further decrease oil prices, which will provide some financial relief for oil-consuming countries affected by U.S. tariffs, while further straining the budgets of poorer oil producers like Iraq. 

The Mixed Economic Impact of OPEC's Production Increase

Namibia

Tanzania

Uruguay

Ukraine

The NATO symbol and flags of some member countries Oct. 18 in Brussels. The NATO-Ukraine Council will meet Nov. 26 to discuss Russia's first use of an experimental ballistic missile on Ukrainian territory, which on Nov. 21 Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed involved a new medium-range, hypersonic ballistic missile known as "Oreshnik."

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: A NATO-Ukraine Summit, Putin's State Visit to Kazakhstan

Cambodia

Germany

France

Turkmenistan

Kyrgyzstan

Afghanistan

The Geopolitics of Water

The escalating impacts of climate change and water scarcity will inflame tensions between Central Asian countries, raising the risk of violent state conflict in the coming decades. 

The Geopolitics of Water: The Looming Threat of Central Asian 'Water Wars'

Snapshots

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev waits to greet foreign leaders during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states leaders' summit in Astana on July 4, 2024.

Continued liberalization will strengthen Kazakhstan's economic outlook in the coming years, but close ties to Russia and China may stifle foreign investment and limit growth.

Will Economic Liberalization Be Enough To Attract Foreign Investment in Kazakhstan?

Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev (right) greets Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Nov. 9, 2023.

Despite inking new deals with Moscow, Astana will continue to deepen its ties with China, the West and Turkey, which over time will increase tensions with Russia.

Kazakhstan's Diversification Push Won't Spur Russian Retaliation -- For Now

Tajikistan

U.S. President Joe Biden (C) and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (3R) participate in a meeting of the C5+1 with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, Turkmen President Serdar Berdymukhamedov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in New York City on Sept. 19, 2023. 

The United States is set to modestly increase engagement with Central Asia, but constraints will prevent a significant upgrade in ties.

Biden's Central Asia Meeting Demonstrates the Region's Growing Importance

Columns

On Geopolitics

People seeking to return to work in Russia line up outside Tajikistan's state air ticket agency in the capital of Dushanbe on April 8, 2021. 

Social Issues

The ongoing war in Ukraine has left Russia in need of more soldiers, workers and political scapegoats -- a problem in which Central Asia's migrant population will play a critical role.

The Plight of Central Asian Migrants in Wartime Russia

Media

Podcasts

Central Asia is reemerging as a key region for trans-Eurasian trade, but not without complications.

Applied Geopolitics: Central Asia's Geopolitical Challenges

A conversation about what's behind the strained relationship between Russia and Kazakhstan.

Essential Geopolitics: Russia vs. Kazakhstan

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and his Kazakh counterpart Kassym-Jomart Tokayev arrive in Astana before a regional summit on Oct. 14, 2022. 

Moscow's steadily eroding economic and political influence over Astana could eventually push Russia to retaliate with coercion -- and potentially even military action. 

The Risks of Kazakhstan's Slow Drift From Russia

The ninth largest country in the world, Kazakhstan rests in the heart of Central Asia, bordering Russia to its north; China on its east; Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan along its south; and the Caspian Sea to its west.     The defining feature of Kazakhstan is the Kazakh Steppe, a large dryland stretching across more than 70 percent of the country. Only 12 percent of the country's land is arable, and the majority of that is in the north connecting into Russia's agricultural belt. There is also a large pocket in the south. This expanse has largely pushed the population of nearly 18 million to the outer borderlands. The steppe is encircled by a series of sizable mountain ranges.      The core of the country lies in the corridor stretching across the Shymkent (also known as Southern Kazakhstan) and the Almaty region, where the climate is warm compared with the inhospitable deserts of the steppe. This stretch of land lies in the Syr Darya river basin, creating a fertile pocket of land protected to its east, west and north by mountain ranges. Shymkent and Almaty were some of the largest stopping posts along the Silk Road, and they now have the country's densest population and swaths of the financial, industrial and agricultural sectors. To the region's south lies the Fergana Valley in Uzbekistan &mdash; a vulnerable point to its core.     The Kazakh economy is dominated by its energy sector, making up nearly 20 percent of the gross domestic product. The country exports 78 percent of its oil production, regionally and along large trunk lines to China and Russia. Along with its agricultural and metals wealth, Kazakhstan's energy sector has made the country highly valuable to its neighbors. In recent decades, the country has positioned itself as the financial hub of Central Asia, tying in the banking systems of its smaller neighbors.     Kazakhstan maintains strong ties with Russia, which reach back to its empire and Soviet phases. But the government in the capital, Astana, is also developing links to China and other players to balance Moscow. The country tries to maintain working relationships with its smaller neighbors, who have seen bouts of instability. Kazakhstan's challenges stem from its mostly hollow interior, from encroaching large powers and from the potential instability of smaller regions on its border.

SITUATION REPORTS

Kazakhstan: Telegram Opens AI Lab in Astana as Oil Wealth Fuels AI Ambitions

Kazakhstan: Government Plans Second Nuclear Plant in Energy-Deficient South

Kazakhstan, China: Kazakhstan Plans Yuan Debt Sale To Deepen China Ties

Kazakhstan: Tokayev-Erdogan Summit Revives Strategic Ties, Anchors Oil and Transit Cooperation

U.S.: Trump Announces 25% to 40% Tariffs From Aug. 1 on Seven Trading Partners

BRICS+: Bloc Increasingly Leans Away From West, but Avoids Picking Fights With U.S.

Kazakhstan: Kazakhstan Selects Russia and China for Separate Nuclear Power Plant Projects

Global: OPEC+ Approves Third Accelerated Production Hike, But Russia-Saudi Tensions May Rise

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