Is our programme working, and what should we change?
Evaluations, baseline and endline studies, lessons-learned reviews and evidence reviews for programme design.
Research and advisory firm
Commissioned research and political risk analysis for Central Asia
We design and run studies, evaluations and briefings for organisations that need reliable answers from the region. Tell us the question; we come back with a proposal, a timeline and a price.
Recent clientsUniversity of Wisconsin–Madison·Search for Common Ground
What you can commission
Typical timeframeField studies and evaluations
Surveys, focus groups, interviews, needs assessments, evaluations and market studies.
2 weeks to 3 monthsServices →Briefings and political risk notes
Written assessments and scenario sessions for missions, investors and programme teams.
Days to weeksAsk for one →Target Trajectory Monitor
Our monthly assessment of where all five Central Asian states are heading.
Every monthSubscribe →What clients ask us
Bring us the question. We design the study around it.
Most of our work starts with a question an organisation cannot settle from its own desk. These are the four we hear most often, with examples of commissioned and published work.
What do people here actually think?
Public opinion and field research: focus groups, interviews and surveys in Kyrgyz, Russian and the other languages of the region.
What does this market look like, and who matters in it?
Market and stakeholder research: sector studies, customer research and mapping of the people and institutions that shape a decision.
Read moreMarket and social research →
What are the political risks, and where is the region heading?
Political risk and strategic analysis: written briefings, scenario sessions and monthly monitoring of all five states.
Have a different question?
Tell us about itWhy Target Research
What you get when you commission us
Research from inside the region
We are based in Bishkek and do our own fieldwork, in the languages people speak.
Twenty years of regional depth
Our founder has researched governance and security in Central Asia for more than two decades.
Independent findings
We report what the evidence shows, including when it is not what the client hoped to hear.
One accountable lead
The person who scopes your study stays with it until the report is delivered.
Our monthly product
Target Trajectory Monitor
A monthly assessment of all five Central Asian states: where each is heading over the next 12 to 18 months, and why.
- CoverageKazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
- FormatMonthly issue, live trajectory tracker, Flash Notes between issues
- ReadersDiplomatic missions, international organisations, investors
October 2026: Political control tightens in Central Asia →
Latest
Recently published
- Samarkand C5+1: Regional Format, Bilateral OutcomesBig announcements, bilateral payoffs, and why Kyrgyzstan’s agenda stayed defensive.→
- Political Control Tightens in Central AsiaControl is tightening by different routes in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.→
- Youth Employment in Central AsiaYoung women are up to three times as likely as young men to be out of work and education.→
- Who Finances Central Asia’s Strategic Autonomy?Behind the talk of corridors and minerals sits a question of capital.→
- Reading Central Asia: What Investors and Institutions Need to KnowPolitical systems, geopolitical hedging and execution risks behind investment outcomes.→
Working on something in Central Asia?
Contact us to discuss a potential assignment.