Aug 23, 2026 · 31 min · 13 segments
This week, we're covering one of Central Asia's leaders openly calling on Vladimir Putin to bring the war in Ukraine to an end, Russia moving to tear up a number of its military agreements with two…
Michael HilliardHost
Bruce PannierHost
Joanna LillisGuest
[upbeat music] This is Spotlight on Central Asia, your source for the biggest geopolitical stories from across Central Asia.
And it's absolutely great to be back, 'cause there's been an enormous amount of news unfolding in the region, meaning that this week we'll be covering a whole bunch of big stories, including one of Central Asia's leaders openly calling on Putin to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, Russia moving to tear up some of its military agreements with two of the Central Asian states, this week's upcoming election in Kazakhstan, as well as the announcement and dates for Kyrgyzstan's next presidential election, before then turning to take a look at the continuing crackdown on opposition journalism in Kazakhstan, and examining the growing wave of fighting in northern Afghanistan.
From there, though, we'll turn to our main story this week, where we'll be speaking with a good friend of the show about the 10th anniversary of the transition of power from Islam Karimov to Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Uzbekistan, and taking a look at just how much Uzbekistan has changed in that decade since.
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