The hazards of expertise–and listening to experts Articles like this, that call into question what I am doing in my life and in this venue, make me want to turn off the news and go to the closest July barbecue: I can be a witty guest, so please send invite immediately. In a 2005 review of Expert Political Judgement: […]
As I said in my earlier post today, Afghanistan seems to be the afterthought in the U.S. news last week– but not by those Afghanistan-watchers in the blogging community and around the Internet. Here's a round-up: and thanks to all who labor to bring us up to speed. Afghanistan: –At Afghanistan Watch, Tom Perriello gives […]
For those following the news lately in the U.S. at least, there has been a dearth of reporting on Afghanistan for months and maybe even years. This past week, with so much drama enacted in Washington DC over Iraq, even Iraq news from Iraq was sidelined in favor of who-voted-what and why in the air-conditioned halls of Congress. […]
I wanted to go back to a previous post of last week on Kyrgyzstan's potential hydropower development, because I couldn't consider all the dilemmas in one post. One dilemma I started to set up: much of the discussion concerns what kind of capacity would be needed in order to a. serve Kyrgyzstan; b. serve Central Asia's power needs and develop energy […]
Tajikistan, in partnership with the World Bank, is soliciting investment in its cotton enterprises, and international agricultural concerns have another two weeks to submit bids for investment. The forward, signed by Sharif Rahimov, the Chairman of the State Committee for Investments and State Property Management and attached to the call for bids, is beautifully-expressed: it asserts […]
I’ve been reading through poems lately, and found this one about Afghanistan. It was written by reporter Eliza Griswold, who has been a reporter in Afghanistan, Africa, and Guantanamo. She has a book out: Wideawake Field (2007), published by Farrar Straus & Giroux. Buying Rations in Kabul The Uzbek boys on Chicken Street have never had enough […]
Well, as many Central Asia watchers are aware, Uzbekistan's elections were supposed to take place this last December. Therefore, they are over six months overdue. Some vague announcements of elections this December instead were made. But, as recently noted, no election preparation seems to be forthcoming. At last, perhaps a glimmer of electioneering? Or just […]
At last According to Ferghana.ru, the bodies of the missing Nurbank managers, Mr. Joldas Timraliev and Mr. Albar Hasenov, have been found. They have been missing since January. According to the same report, DNA testing was used to verify identity. Both officials showed the marks of torture. Mr. Rakhat Aliev, former-son-in law of President Nursultan […]
Yesterday, C. J. Chivers wrote in the International Herald Tribune that Turkmenistan's heroin addiction rate is phenomenally high: but how high, no one knows for sure. Under the Turkmenbashi, medical care was decimated, census and other facts not gathered, and crime prevention agencies turned increasingly to profit. In this article, Chivers ties the increasing pall that heroin […]
IWPR is reporting that Darigha Nazarbaeva, recently divorced from Rakhat Aliev, will be standing down from Parliament. Her father's party, Nur-Otan, sees her as a liability in upcoming August 18 elections. Ms. Nazarbaeva's Asar Party merged into Nur-Otan in 2006. The elections follow a number of Constitutional amendments, previously most famous for introducing a loosening […]
The militarization of petroleum and natural gas. . . I found an interesting news item about Gazprom last week that to me further indicates bonding between the political and economic in Russia's energy front. I lifted this pretty much verbatim from Andrea Mihaelescu at UPI (emphasis added): Russian gas giant Gazprom now has a right […]
Kyrgyzstan's legislature and utility customers are rushing right into a dilemma that marks the plight of many transition states, and indeed, many developing states across the world. The issue at large concerns the development of energy capacity in Kyrgyzstan, for both domestic use and for export. The new energy developments show some of the pain […]
Just like agricultural crops, seminars seem to be popping up everywhere this summer. One of the latest was is Hujand, Tajikistan: on regional cooperation. Feghana.ru interviewed a Russian academic at the conference, and the interview gives a different perspective to Central Asia's politics. For one thing, Professor Plastun talked about terrorism measures in Central Asia, […]
Happy Nadaam, Mongolia! July 5 is the day that Mongolia overthrew its feudal leaders in 1921. And before that, it was a midsummer celebration of the “Three Manly Sports“: (archery, horseback riding, and wrestling). Dateline, Ulaan Bataar: For the first time in six years, China's Foreign Minister visited Mongolia from June 30 through July 2, to […]
The state of Canada is announcing a new USD 30 million grant to help develop and sustain the struggling Afghanistan justice system. This is part of the USD 1.2 billion that Canada has pledged in support of Afghanistan between now and 2011. The Canadian aid has been announced in conjunction with an Afghanistan rule-of-law seminar in Rome. […]