Central Asia is trapped in an energy paradox. The region’s governments are banking big on the future — specifically, artificial intelligence and critical minerals mining. The problem? These industries demand huge amounts of energy. And right now, Central Asia is running out of it.

Decades of under-investment, amid a booming population, mean the region’s aging Soviet-era infrastructure is buckling under the pressure. Blackouts, rationing, and temporary restrictions are already a seasonal reality.

But with demand set to skyrocket, the region’s largest economies have a new plan to keep the lights on: they’re going nuclear.

But pulling this off means turning to an old, and complicated partner: Russia. And that raises a massive question: is partnering with Moscow a brilliant solution, or a geopolitical trap? And will Central Asia’s fix for one crisis merely trigger another?