A new regime in Turkmenistan has energy analysts and human rights activists hopeful of better days ahead for this post-Soviet state.

The death of Turkmenistan’s eccentric president ends a brutal dictatorship. It also raises questions about the control of Turkmenistan’s massive natural gas reserves and Eurasian energy security.

Energy and security issues topped the agenda during Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's trip to Washington. Yet human rights advocates were pressing the White House to place more emphasis on Kazakhstan's democracy deficit.

The Hudson Institute's Zeyno Baran has issued a report on the energy situation in Central Asia.

A newly obtained video of a May 2005 massacre of civilians in the Uzbek city of Andijan casts new light on an event that led to a marked decrease in U.S. influence in the region.

Throughout the 1990s, Central Asia's Fergana Valley emerged as a hotbed of Islamic fundamentalism. A clash in the Fergana city of Andijan last year, variously described as a "massacre" or a "counterterrorist operation," caused a serious break in Uzbek-U.S. ties. Now, a new video has some questioning the facts of that event.

This articles reports that member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) enjoy a mutually beneficial and reciprocal economic cooperation.

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization, celebrating its five-year anniversary summit, has blossomed into a full-fledged security alliance, as well as a foil to U.S. influence in Central Asia.

In this Congressional Research Service report, Jim Nichol studies U.S. role and interests in Central Asian countries Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

The Kyrgyz government has announced it may evict U.S. forces from a leased airbase there. A pullout would weaken the U.S. presence in Central Asia at a time when Chinese and Russian influence is rising.

The USIP-sponsored Silk Road Studies program has issued a report detailing the changing relationship between the United States and Uzbekistan between 2001 and 2005.