In the Patriciu Eurasia Center issue brief "Kazakhstan and the United States: Twenty Years of Ambiguous Partnership," Sean R. Roberts, an associate professor of practice in international affairs and director of the International Development Studies Program at The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, examines how the US-Kazakhstan relationship has evolved over three critical periods in the country's development.

The 2011 Black Sea Energy and Economic Forum (BSEEF) took place in Istanbul, Turkey from 17-18 November, 2011 at the Swissôtel, featuring Turkish Prime Minister H.E. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and many high-level international leaders hailing from thirty-five countries.

On Friday Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev will officially be sworn in for a new five-year term in office, following an election which saw him take home a staggering 95.5 percent of the vote. Turn out was also officially 90 percent. Like so many elections before it in Kazakhstan, the polls were marred by reports of irregularities, ballot stuffing and other acts of electoral mischief.

On March 23, 2011 the Atlantic Council hosted Alexandros Petersen, Director of Research at the Henry Jackson Society: Project for Democratic Geopolitics, and Dr. Ariel Cohen, Senior Research Fellow at the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies at the Heritage Foundation, for a roundtable discussion on the geopolitics of Eurasia.

After a along period of political neglect the EU is finally responding to its critics by sending the President of the EU Commission, Mr. Barroso on a Caspian tour. The choice of countries is especially important – Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan. Clearly, energy is at the forefront of Mr. Barroso’s agenda.

When leaders of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) gather for a summit in Astana, Kazakhstan this week, they will visit a region in turmoil. Central Asia is beset by ethnic conflict, poor governance and instability in Afghanistan. The spread of transnational threats from this strategic region mean that its security and stability matter to the West.

Despite the smiles, hearty handshakes and declarations of partnership, President Obama’s meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in New York last month was actually a symptom of waning U.S. influence in Eurasia.

On October 5, the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Task Force hosted an ‘off-the record’ luncheon discussion about Central Asia and U.S. policy toward the region with Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake and all five U.S. chiefs of mission to the Central Asian republics.