Development Economist and World Bank Consultant Sobir Kurbanov joins Dr. Dania Arayssi to discuss his field experience across Central Asia, focusing on three themes: practical reform experience, the role of donors, and the importance of institutions.

He highlights Uzbekistan’s rapid, top-driven reforms under new leadership, contrasts that with Tajikistan’s Digital CASA connectivity efforts, and explains when budget support versus project lending is effective.

The episode emphasizes the need for strong public finance systems, fiduciary trust, and durable institutions to sustain reforms, with special attention to energy sector and public–private dialogue.

Is Central Asia entering a new era of resource-driven geopolitics — or repeating old patterns of dependency? In this episode of the Central Asia Center Podcast, Senior Analyst Dania Arayssi speaks with Dr. Ariel Cohen, a leading expert on energy geopolitics in Russia and Central Asia, about the growing importance of critical minerals and energy security in shaping the region’s relationship with the United States. As global demand for critical minerals accelerates, the conversation explores whether this moment presents an opportunity for deeper, more balanced partnerships — or risks reinforcing longstanding patterns of resource dependency. Drawing on decades of experience, Dr. Cohen reflects on how Central Asia has evolved from a post-Soviet periphery into a region of growing strategic importance, and what this shift means for global competition, regional development, and future U.S. engagement. 

What is the future of U.S. engagement in Central Asia, and how has Washington’s approach to the region evolved over time?

In this episode of the Central Asia Center Podcast, Senior Analyst Dania Arayssi speaks with former U.S. Ambassador Daniel Rosenblum, who served in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and spent nearly three decades at the U.S. State Department across five presidential administrations.

Drawing on his extensive experience, Ambassador Rosenblum reflects on the surprising continuity in U.S. policy toward Central Asia, including a sustained focus on sovereignty, stability, and economic development, even amid broader geopolitical shifts.

The conversation also explores the legacy of Cold War-era policies such as the Jackson-Vanik sanctions, their relevance today, and what their potential removal could mean for regional economic integration and U.S. strategy moving forward.

🎙️ Featuring:

Hosted by Dania Arayssi, Senior Analyst at New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy

In this episode of the Central Asia Center Podcast, Senior Analyst Dania Arayssi speaks with Richard Spooner, Senior Fellow at the Caspian Policy Center, about the evolving strategic partnership between the United States and Kazakhstan and what it means for the broader geopolitics of Central Asia.

As global competition intensifies and new economic and security alignments take shape, Central Asia is emerging as a critical region in global affairs. This conversation explores how the U.S.–Kazakhstan relationship is evolving and why it matters for energy security, investment, and the balance of influence among major powers.

Drawing on decades of experience working in the region, Richard Spooner provides an on-the-ground perspective from Astana, examining Kazakhstan’s role in regional stability, foreign investment, and its growing importance in global geopolitical dynamics.

Topics discussed include:

The Central Asia Center at the New Lines Institute produces policy-relevant research and analysis on one of the most strategically important yet underreported regions in global affairs.

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In this episode of the Central Asia Center Podcast, Dr. Dania Arayssi is joined by Eugene Chausovsky, Senior Director for Analytical Development and Training at New Lines Institute, to examine the shifting geopolitical landscape of the Caspian region.

As Russia’s war in Ukraine reshapes Eurasian power dynamics, new opportunities have emerged for Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Central Asia. The conversation explores how Moscow’s weakening influence enabled diplomatic breakthroughs, how Turkey and China are recalibrating their roles, and how frameworks like S7 Plus, C5+1, and the Trump Route (TRIP) are redefining regional connectivity.

The discussion also addresses key risks: Iran’s opposition, Russian skepticism, domestic political uncertainty in Armenia, and the long-term sustainability of U.S. engagement.

What would it take for the Caspian region to become a true transit and economic hub? And why does this matter for U.S. strategic and national security interests?

In this episode of the Central Asia Podcast, Dr. Dania Arayssi speaks with journalist Alexander Thompson, co-author of the New Lines Institute report When Water Becomes Glue: Solving Central Asia’s Water Dilemma Through Collaboration to unpack the realities of water politics in Central Asia.

The conversation explores how water resources are generated upstream in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan but consumed downstream in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan - with the Aral Sea basin at the center of one of the world’s most severe water-management crises. Thompson explains how Soviet-era infrastructure, agricultural demands, and climate pressures have produced deep structural challenges, and why regional cooperation is no longer optional.

The episode also examines how water, often a source of conflict, could instead become a catalyst for cooperation, economic modernization, and regional integration — and where international partners can play a role.

In the inaugural episode of the Central Asia Podcast, host Dania Arayssi is joined by Dr. Kamran Bokhari, Senior Director at the New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, to examine the shifting geopolitical landscape of Iran, Central Asia, and the broader Eurasian region.

The conversation explores Iran’s deepening domestic turmoil and structural decline, the weakening of Russian influence, and the rise of Turkish ambitions — and what these dynamics mean for Central Asian states seeking greater strategic autonomy. Dr. Bokhari unpacks the key indicators he is watching to assess long-term regime erosion in Iran and how this moment of regional flux could reshape political and security calculations across Eurasia.

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