United States intelligence reveals that Hamza bin Laden, son of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden and previously thought dead from a 2019 U.S. airstrike, is alive and leading the Al-Qaeda. In stark contradiction to the increasing evidence from numerous international sources, the Taliban government have persistently denied that Al-Qaeda and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are present in Afghanistan. Although the Taliban, […]

On September 11, 2024, three Taliban fighters were killed, and five were injured in an attack by the National Resistance Front (NRF) at Dawoodzi village in the Qarabagh District of Kabul Province. On September 8, 2024, two fighters of a Taliban intelligence unit were killed in an ambush set by the NRF along a frequently used route in the Tala […]

For most of its just over 30 years of independence, Turkmenistan has been left out of discussions on Central Asia as well as both north-south and east-west transportation routes linking the region to the rest of the world. Over the last two years, however, the situation has changed dramatically as Ashgabat has opened up and assumed a more active role […]

The decline of the United States’ influence in Eurasia and Russia’s aggression against Ukraine have thrust the smaller nations of Central Asia into the global spotlight. Central Asia has faced seismic geopolitical shifts over the past few years. Major global crises—the deterioration of U.S. relations with China and ensuing trade restrictions, the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, and Russia’s […]

Despite promising change, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev increasingly appears to be embracing the role of an authoritarian, patriarchal leader. In response to civil unrest in 2022, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev launched both a violent crackdown and a program of reform. But little has actually changed in Kazakhstan. As Tokayev has succeeded in consolidating his grip on power, he appears unafraid of […]