Posts From Luke Rodeheffer

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Economics South and Central Asia

Dreams of tourist-friendly North Caucasus hard to realize

North Caucasus hopes to use the Sochi Winter Olympics to attract investment through improvement in tourism. Yet, insecurity, corruption and broken infrastructure make such dreams difficult to realize. The President

Economics South and Central Asia

Tough times ahead for Tajikistan

Tajikistan’s year ahead is fraught with political and economic risk, even as the nation hopes to join the Eurasian Union, which launches in 2015. Border disputes with the neighboring post-Soviet

Politics South and Central Asia

Business boom for Turkish contractors in Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan’s openness to Turkish investment grows with an increasing number of construction contracts. The Turkish press published reports in December 2013 detailing new projects to be undertaken by the Turkish

Economics South and Central Asia

Russia invests in Far East to prevent Chinese influence

Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to celebrate the New Year in the Russian Far East. Fear of Chinese influence has prompted another sign of the “Pivot Eastward” that Putin has pledged

Politics South and Central Asia

Uzbekistan’s business community torn by elite turf war

Uzbek businesses find themselves caught in the crossfire of an ongoing feud among the Central Asian republic’s ruling elite. Intrigue has rapidly developed as the health of Islam Karimov, the

Europe Politics

Book Review: Can Russia Modernize?

As Russia continues into its second decade under Putin’s leadership, and questions of his successor are swirling, the question of how Russia has been governed under Putin’s network has become

Economics South and Central Asia

Kazakhstan seeks larger China-Europe transit trade share

Kazakhstan is in the middle of an ambitious railway modernization project that the Kazakh state hopes will upgrade its status as a transport hub in the middle of the Eurasian

Economics Europe

Belarus blames Russia for economic woes in trade war

A trade dispute between Russia and Belarus over potash threatens the stability of the Eurasian Customs Union and demonstrates once again how dependent Belarus is on its larger neighbour. Vladislav