Paolo Sorbello - openDemocracy

Too little has changed in Kazakhstan in the year since ‘Bloody January’

A ‘New Kazakhstan’ was promised after last January’s deadly protests. It looks a lot like the old oligarchic order

/ 5 Jan 2023

Too little has changed in Kazakhstan in the year since ‘Bloody January’

Anti-union laws have punished Kazakhstan’s workers. But the fight isn’t over

Workers in Kazakhstan have faced pressure for years but continue to fight for their rights and social justice, new reporting by openDemocracy and Kazakhstani independent media Vlast.kz shows

By Paolo Sorbello and Алмас Кайсар

/ 10 Aug 2022

Anti-union laws have punished Kazakhstan’s workers. But the fight isn’t over

How Kazakhstan society is divided over the Russia-Ukraine war

In Kazakhstan, where a Soviet past still lingers, there are clear generational divides in opinion towards Putin’s invasion

By Paolo Sorbello, Aigerim Shapagat and Marina Samoilovich

/ 23 Mar 2022

How Kazakhstan society is divided over the Russia-Ukraine war

Reporting on Kazakhstan’s chaos amid internet shutdowns and violence

Journalists have been subject to detentions or attacks, while internet blackouts left them unable to communicate for days

By Paolo Sorbello

/ 13 Jan 2022

Reporting on Kazakhstan’s chaos amid internet shutdowns and violence

Anger, injustice and politics brought people to the streets in Kazakhstan

Exclusive: veteran human rights defender Yevgeniy Zhovtis tells openDemocracy about how the tumultuous protests started – and ended – this week

By Paolo Sorbello

/ 9 Jan 2022

Anger, injustice and politics brought people to the streets in Kazakhstan

A new tale of migrant struggles in Moscow puts poverty, motherhood and hope on screen

This Russian-Kazakh film explores how people who migrate to Russia are often subject to forces far greater than themselves.

By Paolo Sorbello

/ 6 Nov 2018

Central Asia, the Panama Papers and the myth of the periphery

Far from operating in isolation, Central Asia’s elites have been quietly accumulating power with the help of western tax havens.

By Paolo Sorbello and Bradley Jardine

/ 20 May 2016

Concreting over the Silk Highway

The ‘Silk Highway’ will connect Western Europe with China, no matter what the locals think.

By Paolo Sorbello

/ 9 Sep 2014

Kazakhstan and the EEU: the rise of Eurasian scepticism

As in Europe, scepticism towards regional integration is on the rise in Kazakhstan. And just like the Old Continent, Astana is learning to play this to its advantage…

By Luca Anceschi and Paolo Sorbello

/ 15 May 2014