ABSTRACT
Over the past decade, Russia’s global influence has been greater than its share of GDP, population and defence spending would imply. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and its political, economic and security consequences, dominated the geopolitics of Eurasia over the past year. But several other developments drew attention to further sources of regional instability and change, notably in Central Asia’s two largest countries, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. The most significant domestic consequence of the war was Putin’s announcement in September of a ‘partial mobilisation’ – which soon began to be implemented more comprehensively. The effects of Russia’s war and Western sanctions were felt across Eurasia. Other, more local sources of tension and instability also drove change in several countries. The EU imposed sanctions on Belarus in response to the crisis. The past year has been one of the most momentous in Central Asia since the countries in this region gained independence in December 1991.
