Twenty-five years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Carnegie’s Changing Geopolitics of Eurasia project will assess the trajectories of the countries of Eastern Europe, the South Caucasus, and Central Asia. It will examine their foreign policies, evolving geopolitical environments, and implications for U.S. interests. The Changing Geopolitics of Eurasia project is supported, in part, by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Russia and Eurasia Program continues Carnegie’s long tradition of independent research on major political, societal, and security trends in and U.S. policy toward a region that has been upended by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Leaders regularly turn to our work for clear-eyed, relevant analyses on the region to inform their policy decisions.
Despite relaxed relations between Moldova and Transdniestria, Russia has recently raised the alarm the frozen conflict might turn hot. Is it a serious threat or just a manufactured crisis?
One of the greatest achievements of U.S. foreign policy has been targeted by a vicious disinformation campaign.
What do the recent spate of suicides and political violence in Armenia mean for the country’s political transition?
After taking power in 2016, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev quickly recognized that growing socioeconomic discontent could destabilize his regime, so he launched a preventative program of political and economic reforms.
Almost 30 years after the collapse of the USSR, Central Asian citizens are growing tired of stagnating economies, rampant corruption, and their governments’ empty promises. In 2019, they made it clear they want improved services, more transparency in decision-making, and better opportunities.
While Azerbaijan will not become a Western-style liberal democracy anytime soon, recent trends point to a society that is changing—and a government that may now recognize the need to change along with it.
Younger generations of Central Asian citizens are demanding more from their governments, but their leaders continue to cling to a rapidly eroding status quo.
Kazakhstanis will vote for a new president on June 9. The election was supposed to be a smooth transition to a handpicked, pliant successor, not an open contest. But things are not going as originally planned.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev has resigned after nearly three decades. But the succession process appears to have just started, and it won’t be the last we will see of his influence.
Kazakhstan’s president has fired the government over what he called its failure to shore up crumbling living standards. Will it be enough to satisfy his citizens’ demands?