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UN Secretary-General António Guterres returned to Central Asia this weekend, joining President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana to inaugurate a new UN Regional Center for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with a scope covering Central Asia and Afghanistan. The initiative is meant to support regional economies, ease migration pressures, and introduce a framework for incremental political stabilization in Afghanistan. After Astana, Guterres is expected in Awaza, Turkmenistan, where he will address a UN conference focused on the challenges facing landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), notably trade, infrastructure, and regional resilience.
It is Guterres’s first visit to the region since July 2024, when he visited all five Central Asian republics. This time, the context has shifted. Long considered a peripheral space, or merely a corridor between larger powers, Central Asia has now become integral to multilateral thinking. The SDG Center in Almaty and the LLDC forum in Ashgabat reflect that change. Institutions are catching up to geography.
Kazakhstan’s role is pivotal. Under Tokayev’s presidency, it has moved steadily into a position of structural convenor. That position rests on four broad dynamics: the diplomatic adjustments in the region following Russia’s war in Ukraine; the emergence of the Middle Corridor; Afghanistan’s reentry into regional frameworks via development; and the UN’s own internal recalibrations.
The first is strategic drift away from Moscow. Since 2022, Kazakhstan has maintained a working relationship with Russia while expanding cooperation with China, the EU, and the Gulf. The tone has been restrained, but the implications are more consequential. This is a definitive move that has allowed the country to present itself as a non-aligned anchor for multilateral initiatives.
The second is logistical. The Trans-Caspian International Trade Route (TITR, Middle Corridor) connects China to Europe across Kazakhstan, the South Caucasus, and Turkey. Its significance has grown as Russian routes become riskier. Almaty’s selection as the SDG Center’s home is no coincidence: it manifests the marriage of infrastructure with diplomacy.
The third dynamic centers on Afghanistan. Direct diplomacy remains difficult here, but the need to address such issue-areas as humanitarian need, border tension, and migration does not go away. The SDG Center’s inclusion of Afghanistan in its mandate offers a different path: containment through technical coordination. That model works only where the host is both stable and neutral and Kazakhstan, under Tokayev’s reforms, fits that bill.
Fourth is the institutional side. Since 2020, Guterres has promoted what he calls “networked multilateralism,” which seeks to shift in how the UN extends itself into contested spaces. The idea is to move from template-based programming drawn up in central bureaucratic offices to regionally adapted coordination centers. The Almaty SDG Center fits that mold. It is not a field office but a mechanism for structured interdependence in a space that resists more direct approaches.
On August 3, Guterres and Tokayev signed the host-country agreement. The legal formalities were expected, but the clear signal given is that the UN is willing to treat Central Asia not simply as a collection of national teams, but as a zone where development and diplomacy must be integrated. The inclusion of Afghanistan in the center’s remit underlines the shift.
Guterres, in his remarks, praised Kazakhstan under Tokayev’s leadership as “a symbol of peace, dialogue, a bridge builder, and an honest broker.” He added that Kazakhstan, once defined by its landlockedness, now acts as a crossroads, citing its fiber-optic and transport corridors. The convergence of neutrality and infrastructure is not new, but the changing international environment together with Tokayev’s established reputation has now permitted the country to command a degree of institutional trust.
Tokayev’s foreign policy has emphasized institutionalism over flair. It is a style rooted in his professional diplomatic background. As a former senior diplomat in the UN system, he brings fluency in the mechanics of multilateralism. Kazakhstan hosts but does not direct. It anchors, but it avoids center stage.
The current positioning builds on earlier strategies and institutional participation including the Astana International Forum, OSCE summits, active SCO participation, and others. Tokayev has not replaced these structures but he has adjusted their operating tempo. It is the search by global actors for dependable platforms, especially outside crisis zones, that has made Kazakhstan’s predictability a form of leverage for the country.
Guterres’s visit is not isolated; it belongs to a broader sequence. In June, Astana hosted the third China–Central Asia Summit, with a focus on corridors and digital connectivity. In April, the EU pledged over €13 billion in Central Asian infrastructure investment at a summit in Samarkand. The message is consistent: the region is being treated as a coherent strategic zone.
The UN’s deepened presence falls into this pattern. Even if its focus remains developmental, the choice to embed a regional coordination node in Almaty is a structural decision, not just a programmatic one.
Guterres’s address at the Ashgabat LLDC conference included all the expected messaging about trade, climate, digital equity. Turkmenistan’s hosting was ceremonial, and deliberately so. It maintains a symbolic profile without deepening operational ties. Kazakhstan, by contrast, has made itself functionally available.
The SDG Center will not resolve such long-standing regional challenges as water management, labor migration, and structural governance issues; nor will it prevent geopolitical rivalry. But it offers a space where technical cooperation and development planning can proceed steadily amid regional volatility. This is neither glamorous nor headline-worthy, and that is probably one reason why it works.
If Kazakhstan is now recognized as a regional platform, that recognition owes much to Tokayev’s personal imprint. His diplomatic background gave him credibility with the UN. But, even more key, his disciplined, deliberate, and institutionally fluent style of leadership has suited the moment.
He has not tried to convert Kazakhstan’s strategic location into unilateral leverage. Instead, he has worked to make the country available to multilateral needs. Tokayev’s model goes against the current fashion that mistakenly equates visibility with influence. This restraint, combined with political capacity and his formidable reputation, has given Kazakhstan a different kind of presence in the region: one that is not dominant or reactive, but central.
Courtesy of Nicole Findlay
- My mom, sister, and I went to London for my mom’s 70th birthday.
- We hadn’t traveled together for a while, and it was a relaxing, nostalgic trip.
- We took turns picking where to eat and my mom made friends wherever we went.
Sitting in deep leather armchairs surrounded by Art Deco décor and old-school glamour, we listened as the pianist sang “Happy Birthday” to my mom. It had been 20 years since we’d last stepped inside London’s longest-surviving cocktail bar — the American Bar at The Savoy. We clinked our fancy cocktails together to mark the occasion and toast our mother-daughter adventure in London.
To celebrate my mom’s 70th birthday, my sister and I left our everyday lives behind — husbands, kids, and dogs — to spend six days in one of my mom’s favorite cities. She was born in England and immigrated to the US as a little girl.
Growing up, we made regular trips back to the UK to visit family, but as life got busier, those trips became fewer and farther between. Traveling back to London with my mom — now as a mother to my own 8-year-old — felt equal parts nostalgic, fun, and refreshing.
We didn’t pack our itinerary, but still managed to explore
Our family trip didn’t have a jam-packed itinerary full of the most popular sights. We’d seen London’s main attractions as kids, and my mom was never one to worry about checking things off a list. She’d rather experience a new place than rush to see every landmark.
As a kid, I hated sitting still for too long when there was something new to explore. My son’s exactly the same. I didn’t realize just how relaxing it would be to slow down — to take our time over tea in the afternoon and linger over cocktails in the evening.
One of my favorite parts about our London trip was the variety. Though we didn’t plan everything or stay super busy, no two days felt the same, and my mom was up for anything. We navigated the city on foot, on the Tube, and in taxis. We sipped tea at Claridge’s and coffee at Pret. We cooled off with Aperol Spritzes at the rooftop bar atop Selfridges and got cozy in old London pubs.
Courtesy of Nicole Findlay
We saw the world in Notting Hill and browsed antique maps at the amazing Portobello Print & Map Shop. We also shopped on Carnaby Street, saw Mrs. Warren’s Profession in the West End, and spent an afternoon at the Victoria and Albert Museum. And we went to the V&A café, which is both the world’s oldest museum restaurant and the most beautiful café I’ve ever been to, with its colorful ceramic tiles covering the walls and pillars, bright stained-glass windows, and sparkly globe-shaped chandeliers dangling from the ceiling.
When it came to meals, we took turns picking. Mom chose La mia Mamma, where Italian “mammas” cook your dinner, and wow — the pasta did not disappoint. One night, we donned our fanciest fits for a fine dining experience inside Gordon Ramsay‘s Savoy Grill. Another night, we ate Marks and Spencer’s ham sandwiches in our pajamas in bed.
Courtesy of Nicole Findlay
My mom made friends with strangers wherever we went
One thing that surprised me, though maybe it shouldn’t have, was that my mom talked to everyone. Completely contrasting to her own advice when we were kids, my mom loves chatting with strangers.
Taxi drivers, waiters — you name it. She made friends wherever we went. Because of that, we got tips about good restaurants, learned tidbits about London history, and overall, we met lovely people we might otherwise never crossed paths with.
We did have our share of hiccups on our London vacation: a hotel-bound illness, a lost jacket, a stolen phone. But my mom focused on what went right, not what went wrong. Her positivity made the bad things seem, well… less bad. And a little extra positivity and a friendly attitude can go a long way — especially when traveling.
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Courtesy of Joel Friedman
- Joel and Kathryn Friedman want to downsize, but have been discouraged by the capital gains tax.
- The retired couple is waiting to sell in case Congress reforms the tax on home sales.
- The Friedmans are among a growing number of older homeowners holding onto their large houses.
Joel and Kathryn Friedman, both 71, are counting the days until they can sell their home and move into a 55-plus community.
The retired empty-nesters have been ready to downsize for years, but are reluctant to sell their five-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot Southern California house in large part because of at least $700,000 in capital gains taxes they estimate they’d have to pay.
Since 1997, home sale profits over $500,000 (for married couples) and $250,000 (for single filers) have been subject to a capital gains tax of up to 20%. That threshold hasn’t changed since 1997, meaning that — between inflation and soaring home prices pushing an ever higher number of houses above that limit — many more home sellers have to pay the tax now than when it was first implemented.
The Friedmans are among a growing number of older homeowners discouraged by the tax from selling their valuable properties. Housing economists say that dynamic has exacerbated a shortage of family-sized homes on the market, especially in expensive places like California.
The Friedmans’ house is too big for them, and maintenance costs are only rising, Joel said. “There are a million reasons why we’d like to move, but we’re not because the tax is just burdensome,” he said.
But that could change — there’s bipartisan support in Congress for raising the federal tax threshold to boost home sales in a stagnant market. President Donald Trump recently said he’s weighing eliminating the levy altogether.
Courtesy of Joel Friedman
Growing desperate to move, the Friedmans finally put their house on the market in May for nearly $4.5 million. But things changed for them in July, when the issue got new attention in Washington.
Just weeks after Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene introduced a bill to eliminate the federal capital gains tax on home sales, Trump said the effort could help juice housing market sales amid persistently high interest rates.
Are you an older American who has struggled to downsize your home or find retirement housing? Reach out to this reporter at erelman@businessinsider.com.
So the Friedmans are letting their listing expire and hoping the law changes in the next year.
“At the moment, it’s a disincentive to put my house on the market, and it’s an incentive, if you already have it on the market and you can afford to wait, to take it off the market,” Joel said.
Courtesy of Joel Friedman
A $700,000 tax bill
The Friedmans bought their lot and built their home in 1990. Like many California homes, the property has since appreciated significantly.
Joel calculates that he and Kathryn have spent a total of $1.8 million on purchasing their land, and building and improving their property over the last more than three decades. If the couple were to sell their house for $4.5 million, he estimated that federal and state capital gains taxes would apply to about $2 million in profit after existing exemptions. That, in addition to a net investment tax, would put their tax bill at almost $700,000, including more than $400,000 in federal capital gains tax and more than $200,000 in state capital gains taxes.
Evan Liddiard, director of federal tax policy at the National Association of Realtors and a certified public accountant, estimated the couple’s combined state and federal tax bill could exceed $800,000.
While the Friedmans have done well financially, they’re relying on the profits from their future home sale to help fund their retirement. They’re concerned that Joel’s Social Security checks and Kathryn’s pension won’t be enough to cover healthcare bills and long-term care as they age.
“That’s a sizable chunk of change for anybody,” Joel said. “We’re not going to be destitute, but it does help to have the extra cash.”
The future of the tax
Over the last several years, the effort to reform the tax on home sales has been led by a Democrat. California Rep. Jimmy Panetta first introduced a bill in 2022 that would double the tax exclusion to $500,000 for individuals and $1 million for joint-filing couples and index it to inflation.
It’s unclear whether Congress will seriously consider Greene’s bill or move forward with Panetta’s legislation, which has bipartisan support. Liddiard is skeptical that lawmakers would support eliminating the tax entirely, but he argued that Panetta’s bill “would solve most of the problem” by dramatically shrinking the number of home sellers who’d be subject to the tax.
Liddiard said eliminating the capital gains tax or raising the exclusion threshold “is not a cure-all” for housing market woes, but would have a significant positive impact on inventory and affordability.
He argued that reducing the tax burden would mean more homes would hit the market, raising supply and lowering home prices. NAR has been lobbying to reduce the capital gains tax burden on home sellers for years.
But the proposed changes to the tax would disproportionately benefit homeowners in states, like California, that have the country’s most expensive housing markets. They would also tend to help wealthier homeowners who are lucky enough to be sitting on significant home equity.
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