Central Asia

The president has secured the changes he wanted but they do not advance his aims

Relations with neighbouring states will improve while talk of domestic reform may come to nothing

Signs of a will for regional cooperation offer hope in a gloomy economic environment

Despite early signs of improving relations, water disputes will be hard to resolve

The president seems more focused on favouring relatives than fixing fractured political and economic systems

Relatively few people go to fight in Syria but social media give them unprecedented publicity

Economic ties with Russia are strong but the Eurasian integration project seems to have made things worse, not better

Low oil prices, Russia's economic slowdown and continuing security fears over Afghanistan will dominate the region