Valdai Club

The Central Asian countries, despite their differing tactics and nuances, remain steadfast partners and allies of Russia. On May 9, 2025, the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan will once again stand on the podium of Red Square, alongside Russian military personnel and soldiers from Central Asian armies. This enduring partnership deserves not only respect and recognition but also a shared commitment to development and prosperity, Kubatbek Rakhimov writes.

The Chinese-Kyrgyz-Uzbek railway could become a pilot project within the framework of the emerging network of SCO/Greater Eurasian Partnership transport corridors, which are really important in the formation of a new geopolitical and geoeconomic reality, Kubatbek Rakhimov writes.

The freshwater situation is becoming increasingly politicised. We can confidently say that the hydrological and political issues are gradually converging and will soon form complementary categories, write Alexey Mikhalev and Kubatbek Rakhimov for the 4th Central Asian conference of the Valdai Discussion Club

The ideas mentioned in this article are just an attempt to propose a way out of the system of hydraulic dependence for a huge and resource-rich region. This is a discussion about the potential of a nuclear consortium, along with a critique of hydrocentric energy, write Kubatbek Rakhimov and Alexey Mikhalev.

The Great Eurasian Partnership stands in opposition to hegemony imposed from outside, but it’s not a closed club. What the new format of relations will be after overcoming inequality is difficult to answer today. The process ahead is to develop a model that will be acceptable to all members of the Greater Eurasian Partnership, write Kubatbek Rakhimov and Alexey Mikhalev.

For the sake of their own stability and security, the CSTO countries should pay attention to the media sphere. It is worth creating educational and training projects, both local and international, that would work in Russian and in the local languages, and involve local specialists in the implementation of these projects, and not just more experienced Russian media figures, who, however, are also needed.

Russian Asiacentrism has a future filled with meaning and real projects. For their successful implementation, it is important to understand and accept the principle of superposition in relation to Russia as a state-civilisation, which, however, does not detract from the merits of the Eurasian concept, writes Kubatbek Rakhimov, Executive Director of the Applicata – Center for Strategic Solutions Public Foundation, for the 13th Asian conference of the Valdai Discussion Club.

The rublification of all trade and investment relations between Russia and its partners is a first and very important step on the way from currency sovereignty to a new role for the ruble as a reliable alternative to other currencies, writes Kubatbek Rakhimov, Executive Director of the Applicata Center for Strategic Decisions Public Foundation, Advisor to the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic (2019-2020).

The crowd, familiar to us from history, crushing everything on its way, is now digitalised and organised according to a new format — a banner or a stone in one hand, and a smartphone in the other. The point is that ochlocracy has become digital and is therefore much more dangerous and destructive, writes Kubatbek Rakhimov, Director of the Eurasia Center for Strategic Research, a former adviser to the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic.

A certain disillusionment with the Eurasian agenda should not automatically lead to an involution scenario, but it is necessary to change the centre of gravity in the very system of multifaceted Eurasian integration, which should not narrow to only economic interaction, writes Kubatbek Rakhimov, former adviser to the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic, PHD in economics, MBA.