The CAPS Unlock podcast is your weekly guide to the key political, economic, and social developments shaping Central Asia. Each episode begins with a deep dive into a major news story, unpacking its significance and broader implications for the region. We then sit down with a guest — whether a policymaker, analyst, journalist, or expert working on the ground — to explore an issue in greater depth, bringing fresh insights and perspectives to the conversation.
Produced in collaboration with the Havli Substack newsletter, the podcast extends our commitment to thoughtful analysis and informed discussion on the region.
We’d love to hear from you! Your feedback is invaluable in shaping future episodes. Let us know what you think, what we can improve, and what topics or issues deserve more attention. Get in touch at pleonard@capsunlock.org.
Alongside looking at Kazakhstan’s AI legislation and Kyrgyzstan’s political moment, we feature a conversation with an air-quality activist on how officials are responding to Almaty’s pollution crisis.
When energy security falters and politics seeps into sport, creativity may be the region’s most renewable resource.
Tragedy in Kyrgyzstan fuels calls to restore death penalty, as Kazakhstan’s leader brands global climate policy a “hoax.” Also, NYU Shanghai’s Maria Adele Carrai talks about mapping China’s footprint.
Central Asia’s leaders sell AI as destiny, researchers reveal limits to independent advice in Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan’s parliament votes to end its term.
Central Asia condemns Israel’s strike on Qatar, and Tokayev proposed transforming Kazakhstan’s bicameral parliament into a single chamber. Meanwhile, the Pamirs are now losing their ice fields at a troubling rate.
In this episode of the podcast, we speak to Irina Sinepupova (a historical researcher currently pursuing her studies at Nazarbayev University) and Leora Eisenberg (PhD candidate, Harvard University) about two very different cases that expose the same paradox in Soviet Central Asia: culture was steered by the state, yet the results often felt vivid and genuine.
In this week’s episode of the CAPS Unlock podcast, we speak to Adeeb Khalid (Carleton College), Adrian Edgar (UC Santa Barbara), and Javeed Ahwar (Nazarbayev University). The conversation begins by dismantling a familiar myth that Lenin and Stalin casually drew Central Asia’s borders in late-night sessions. Instead, borders emerged from protracted bargaining between Moscow and local elites. The guests argue that while much of the nation-building story has been mapped, the field is not “finished”; it is widening to examine flows of people, ideas, and commerce that exceed state lines.
In this episode of the CAPS Unlock podcast, we temporarily step away from our usual format. We speak to scholars who explain the challenges of archival access. We discuss how access varies across the region: the relative ease of Kazakhstan (with longer lead times and embassy paperwork), the difficulty and unpredictability of Uzbekistan’s main historical archive in Tashkent, and the near-impossibility of working in Turkmenistan, and why professional conduct in reading rooms matters for everyone’s access.
In this week’s episode of the CAPS Unlock podcast, we break with our usual format to bring you a wide-ranging long-form conversation with Bruce Pannier, veteran Central Asia watcher. Pannier reflects on three decades of reporting and analysis, from his early days gathering scraps of information in the pre-Internet 1990s to today’s denser, more contested media landscape.
Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan signed an agreement to launch feasibility studies for the 700-kilometre railway route. In our interview segment, we speak with Roman Vakulchuk, head of the Climate and Energy Research Group at the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Vakulchuk explains why the EU lags behind China and the U.S. in concrete deals on critical raw materials with Central Asia.
In this episode, we turn our attention southward to Afghanistan, where Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan invest in Afghan trade routes and infrastructure. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump announces 25 percent tariffs on Kazakh exports. Spoiler alert: it carries minimal economic impact, but sends confused signals about Washington’s Central Asia policy.
Kyrgyz lawmakers target online content, and Central Asia faces deadly heat. Meanwhile, Italy eyes new green investments in Kazakhstan.
As we discuss in an interview with Temur Umarov, a fellow at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, Central Asia’s China strategy is maturing, but local agency still lags behind big optics.
This week’s CAPS Unlock takes us east, to a country often left out of Central Asia’s story: Mongolia. We speak to Chimguundari Navaan-Yunden, a former advisor to the Mongolian prime minister, about her recent article exploring Mongolia’s foreign policy realignment toward Central Asia.
In this special edition of the CAPS Unlock podcast, we speak to Daniel Rosenblum, the recently retired U.S. ambassador to both Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, about his decades-long engagement with Central Asia and the future of U.S. foreign policy in the region.
A major storm hit Tashkent last week, felling trees, halting flights, and triggering dangerous air pollution levels. Also, we discuss a new report by Internet Society produced in collaboration with CAPS Unlock on Kazakhstan’s digital infrastructure and internet vulnerabilities. Topics include the country’s high telecom concentration, reliance on Russian infrastructure, surveillance capabilities such as root certificate programs, and the promise (and risks) of new routing alternatives through the Caspian and China.
Kazakhstan’s oil production surge and the geopolitical and economic ramifications of the country’s deviation from OPEC+ production quotas. We also discuss a new academic paper, that draws on protest data, survey results, and dozens of interviews to argue that anti-China sentiment has been steadily rising across the region.
The leaders of all five Central Asian republics attended Moscow’s parade. Yet beneath the rituals of state ceremony lie increasingly contested memories and shifting sentiments. Meanwhile, Kyrgyzstan has announced a partnership with Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, to jointly develop a national digital currency system.
The World Bank’s latest economic update on Europe and Central Asia (ECA) paints a mixed picture for Central Asia. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan grapples with a surge of AI-generated fake videos related to Victory Day.
In Kyrgyzstan, authorities recently arrested a freelance employee from the Russian cultural centre in Osh on charges of recruiting mercenaries for Russia’s war in Ukraine. It is the country’s first high-profile case of this kind. We also spoke with Mihra Rittmann, Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, about Kazakhstan’s increasingly hostile stance toward civil society.
As Moscow lashes out over Kazakhstan’s foreign policy stance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov publicly questions President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s commitment to territorial integrity, reviving geopolitical sensitivities across Central Asia. Meanwhile, a police raid targeting Kyrgyz migrants in Moscow has drawn outrage and renewed focus on Russia’s increasingly hostile migration policies.
As EU leaders gathered with Central Asian presidents in Samarkand, the summit promised partnership and billions in investment. But on the ground, the optics told a more controlled story. Meanwhile, Kazakhstan and the EU edge toward a visa facilitation deal that could reshape how people move between the two regions.
As drones target Russian oil infrastructure, Kazakhstan walks a geopolitical tightrope. Meanwhile, Uzbekistan turns to dialogue in response to Afghanistan’s new canal on the Amu Darya. What these two stories reveal about Central Asia’s cautious balancing act.
Reporting from the scene of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan landmark treaty signing. Inside the signing of an agreement that could reshape Central Asian diplomacy.
Kyrgyz-Tajik border deal, Uzbekistan’s unshakeable graft habit. And for this week’s interview, we spoke with Aizhan Alzhanova, a representative of Mama Pro, a Kazakhstan-based organisation dedicated to supporting mothers of children with special needs.
Kyrgyz-Tajik border deal, Afghanistan rail, and teaching climate change. A historic border treaty, shifting trade routes, and how climate education could reshape Kazakhstan’s future.
Kazakhstan oil caught in Russia-Ukraine crossfire. Astana’s (non-)reaction to a drone strike on vital oil transportation infrastructure, Kyrgyzstan’s move to bring surveillance culture into schools, and the economic toll of air pollution.
Taxing times for Kazakhstan. A debate around VAT and Kyrgyzstan’s search for a new soundtrack. Also, how to develop EU-Central Asia connectivity.
Air pollution in Central Asia and Turkey’s regional play. Also, how Syria’s shifting dynamics ripple through Central Asia’s security and geopolitics.
As well as talking about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kazakhstan, we spoke to Terhi Hakala, outgoing EU Special Representative for Central Asia, about Brussels’ evolving posture toward the region.
Introducing the podcast. Listen here for more.
