Defining state capitalism -- Russia: crony capitalism, Putin-style -- Kyrgyzstan: sad poster-child of neoliberalism -- Kazakhstan: a dual economy with developmental characteristics -- Uzbekistan: economic life under control and beyond control -- Tajikistan and Turkmenistan: predatory state...

CIS Central Asia’s structural heterogeneity may have deepened since the global crisis of 2008–09. Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are relatively rich oil and gas exporters, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan are poor energy importers, and Uzbekistan is a more diversified but still rather poor...

Rio + 20 has reiterated that sustainable development incorporates three dimensions, one of which is economy including trade. Demand for energy in Asia has also been linked to rising trends of trade and production. Trade and investment can also play a key role in mitigating climate change....

The five countries of Central Asia – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – became independent states in 1991-1992 with the dissolution of the Soviet Union (see Map 1). Immediately after assuming independence, the Central Asian countries embarked, together with...

"A re-conceptualisation of the widely-held concept of the "resource curse," which contends that resource booms inevitably lead to numerous political, social and economic problems. This book counters that these problems are by no means inevitable, but are rather the direct result of specific...

This paper provides an overview of the political economy of oil in the CIS. It briefly situates the region's oil sector potential in the global context, before analysing the structural features of the oil sectors by country. It examines the ways in which CIS oil industries have been organised...

Since the end of 2007, countries in Central Asia have been struck by two major consecutive shocks: the food and fuel price increase in 2007-08, and the global economic and financial crisis that began at the end of 2008. Households, both poor and not poor, are directly and adversely affected by...

Since the end of 2007, countries in Central Asia have been struck by two major consecutive shocks: the food and fuel price increase in 2007-08, and the global economic and financial crisis that began at the end of 2008. Households, both poor and not poor, are directly and adversely affected by...

This paper applies two hypotheses regarding weak state foreign policy to analyze the opportunities and risks in Turkmenistan’s quest to diversify its gas export routes, especially since 2006. The first hypothesis, related to opportunities, is that competition among major powers over the...

The development and use of water resources in the Amu Darya Basin remain under debate in the face of increasing population and associated scarcities in water, food, and energy. The upstream riparian, the mountain nation of Tajikistan, wishes to develop its hydropower potential. Three downstream...

Central Asia is a region strategically located in a part of the world which had attracted constantly the attention of superpowers of the world as evidenced by the term the Great Game. The term usually attributed to Arthur Conolly, was used to describe the rivalry and strategic conflict between...