Central Asia Archive

On Jan. 15, the government of Kazakhstan ended months of uncertainty in world energy markets by announcing that KazMunaiGaz, the country’s national oil and gas company, would assume a lead role in developing the Kashagan oil field, one of the world’s largest. The decision marks the latest instance of a government strengthening control over its valuable national resources by pressuring foreign firms to revise production sharing agreements (PSAs) negotiated years earlier. A press release issued by KazMunaiGaz concerning the new memorandum of understanding stated that it “seals the consent of all commercial participants in the consortium to transfer a stake […]

Although Western attention has focused on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) as a potential threat to Western influence in Eurasia, another institution, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), currently represents a more serious near-term challenge. Last October, the leaders of the CSTO convened one of their most important summits in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan. The assembled presidents and senior staff reached several important decisions that testify to the CSTO’s expanding regional security ambitions. First, they adopted procedures formally authorizing members to conduct joint peacekeeping operations. Second, by reaffirming Moscow’s willingness to sell arms to its CSTO allies on a […]