Visit with the Taliban. A new cultural experience is waiting for visitors ready to experience Afghanistan under Taliban rule.

Airbnb asked its hosts last August to offer accommodations for free or at a steep discount to Afghan refugees. Over 7,000 hosts ultimately made good on the offer, with many offering donations as well.

Central Asia’s aim of improving regional connectivity and greater integration of Afghanistan are being challenged by tensions between the neighbours and the cocktail molotov that is US-Afghan relations.

Half-sitting at the confetti-covered table, we scavenge over the remains of Olivier salad, while trying to sober up and recover the memory of what just happened, and prepare for what’s going to come next? In this two-part issue, we share our 20 notes from 2020, and try to extrapolate what is in store in 2021.

Eager to unlock new development avenues, and less bothered by the woes posed by the pandemic in the West, the Central Asian states are ready to go big.

Things seem to be going back to a regular pace, more together and focused in light of potential discords and worries over the looming second wave of the pandemic.

As the Stans recover from a troublesome summer, they shift focus on promising projects and an ambitious year end.

The states seem to have maintained the balancing act, and are now eager to disburse funds to recover national economies, expanding projects, boosting private sector activity, all while facing the rising threat of a second wave.