While the whole world copes with the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus pandemic responsible for COVID-19, Moscow has been attempting to take advantage of the situation. Under the pretext of helping them tackle a “common misfortune,” the Kremlin hopes, at a minimum, to pressure...
Reclusive Turkmenistan may be about to become a big problem, warn analysts. Five major concerns are: 1) its explosive demographic growth which is placing huge burdens on the economy with massive young unemployment - a major indicator of danger of extremist violence; 2) it's suffering from falling natural gas prices, its most important export; 3) a major escalation of Islamist radicalism recently; 4) a serious security threat from the south which its forces are unable to counter; and 5) its non-aligned status means it cannot count on Russia or others for help to defend it. There are fears Turkmenistan could become Central Asia's "Kuwait", collapsing under Islamist insurgency.