Features
Kazakhstan: Officials resorting to press gangs to curb draft evasion
Widespread practice of hazing linked to draft difficulties.
PANNIER: Central Asia faces tough race against clock to prevent water crisis
Region in no doubt that climate change has arrived. Efforts to save critical resource taking on more urgency.
PROFILE: Peter Magyar has a daunting task to scale up his party to challenge Orban in the 2026 elections
The Tisza leader has emerged as a credible challenger to Hungary's longest serving premier and is currently even polling ahead of the ruling Fidesz party.
Xi lays out the new rules of Global South Consensus to Biden
What has been portrayed as an economic clash between East and West is taking on an increasingly ideological nature. Chinese President Xi Jinping laid out new rules of the game for Sino-US relations in blunt terms to US President Joe Biden.
War for citizenship: Why Uzbeks fight for Russia
The Uzbek government is actively discouraging citizens from becoming mercenaries.
Georgia’s Armenians and Azerbaijanis: an easy target for Georgian Dream vote manipulation
Georgia’s minority areas tended – with the help of extensive vote-buying and intimidation, the opposition argues – to vote overwhelmingly in favour of Georgian Dream.
The East-West clash will fuel nuclear weapons proliferation
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy shocked his Western allies last month at the EU summit by suggesting Ukraine needs to become a nuclear power again if it is not granted Nato membership soon.
_1731917306.jpg)
Putin’s best weapon to pay for the Ukraine war is not oil; it's VAT
Sanctions on Russia are barking up the wrong tree. The Kremlin’s Achilles’ heel is not its dependence on oil export revenue. Russian President Vladimir Putin has a far more powerful tool to fund his war in Ukraine: VAT.
_1731663951.jpg)
The significance of Elon Musk's meeting with Iran
As Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House, a reported meeting between Elon Musk and Iran's UN envoy suggests an unexpected opening in diplomatic channels.
So you want to get on the right side of Donald Trump? Try gift-wrapping a hotel
Though he’s busy preparing for his second stint in the White House, his brand is still doing business the world over.
Moldova's EU ambitions and the Transnistria dilemma
Officials in Chisinau want a peaceful end to the long-frozen conflict – but the leaders of the separatist Transnistria republic are protesting their own interests.
Russia’s economy is tougher than it looks, no chance of a crisis in the next 3-5 years – CASE
Russia’s economy has been battered by sanctions and high inflation, but there is no chance of a major economic crisis occurring anytime in the next three to five years, says a new authoritative report from CASE.
KYIV BLOG: Odesa, bombarded but unbowed
Sporadic Russian missile attacks have become part of everyday life in Odesa, Ukraine’s main Black Sea port city.
Japan’s strategic stance in a Taiwan conflict
Experts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies China Power Project and other think tanks predict a higher likelihood of a Chinese invasion or blockade of Taiwan after this year’s presidential elections.
Finding workers in wartime Odesa
The challenge to fill workplaces and support small businesses in Ukraine’s beleaguered port city.
URUS-ClearPic: M&A in Central Asia Tracker
In recent years, the economies of Central Asia have witnessed various mergers and acquisitions driven by economic restructuring, geopolitical developments and opportunities arising from regional connectivity initiatives.
Greta Thunberg joins the fight for democracy in the South Caucasus
Thunberg tells bne IntelliNews she hopes to stand in solidarity "with the struggle for justice and democracy in the whole South Caucasus region".
Efficiency savings and renewables key to Moldova’s long-term energy security, says EBRD
Energy efficiency investments are critical to Moldova's long-term energy security, the EBRD's head of Moldova told bne IntelliNews.
Putin lays out his view of the new world order in Valdai speech
President Vladimir Putin took the stage at the Valdai Discussion Forum on November 7 in the northwestern Russian city of Veliky Novgorod and laid out his idea on what the new world order should look like.
Trump's election complicates Tusk's foreign policy challenges
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will now hope President Andrzej Duda will work hand in hand with the government to make Trump get over his criticism of Nato and shelve his plan to “end war in Ukraine in 24 hours”.