At least 77 people have died in clashes in the south of Kyrgyzstan, according to Al-Jazeera. It seems that thousands of ethnic Uzbeks, mostly women and children, are fleeing for safety to Uzbekistan. They claim that they have been attacked by militias and by the Kyrgyz military and police. The interim government is appealing to […]
Joost Hiltermann (of the International Crisis Group) has a blog post at the New York Review of Books on the current climate in Iraq. The Supreme Court has certified the election results, but the country remains without a government, and it’s goal of having one by Ramadan (early August) or the planned withdrawal date of […]
Hello all, I’m resuming blogging here at the FPA Middle East blog, after finishing my MA this May. I’m now in Damascus for the next several months, and will be commenting on the news from here. It’s good to be back! Please get in touch (via the information in the Bio section) if you hear […]
Mexico and South Africa played to 1-1 tie in the opening day of the 2010 World Cup. What would’ve been a ho-hum performance is anything but for the kickoff game against the hosting team, affectionately called Bafana Bafana. South Africa drew first blood at the 55-minute mark, when Siphewe Tshabalala scored. Mexico drew even off […]
The Finance Ministry has released the projected budget for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The budget has been revealed as two counter-vailing currents are flowing in somewhat cross-cutting directions. In the first cut, the budget has been released in the aftermath of encouraging IMF reports on Bangladesh’s macroeconomic health and stability. Remittance inflows have increased. The […]
Back in the USSR, there was a strain of dissidents with a very refreshing/ quixotic programme of opposition: they would live “as if”. As if the Soviet Union were a democratic country that actually followed its own laws. Of course, it was only a matter of time before reality caught up to them and they […]
The recent EU-Russia summit in Rostov-on-Don demonstrated a definite strengthening in EU-Russian ties. Thus the relationship would seem to be more than recovering from the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. During the summit previously contentious issues were breached. These included human rights and democratic standards. Although the summit did not bring produce many concrete results – e.g. […]
I really wish I could say something smart and insightful about Addis Ababa. But when you only have 14 hours in a city, and when 12 or more of those hours are spent in your hotel complex (the Hilton Addis Ababa) that is more isolated (but also nicer) than advertised, anything you have to say […]
There’ll be an election for mayor in Chittagong on June 17th and already the BNP has announced ultimatums should any so-called vote rigging occur. This is a two candidate race now that the major candidates who might have otherwise split the right and left tickets have pulled out of the electoral contest. Instead of placing the […]
It’s no surprise that the “biggies”—the McDonalds, the Microsofts, the Boeings—have a MENA presence (MENA=Middle East and North Africa). But what about small to medium enterprises? How do they even begin to take advantage of this huge (and growing) market of hundreds of millions of consumers? A great answer can be found in an article, […]
On Sunday, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates visited Baku, a long-overdue trip by a senior administration official. The reportage from American journalists adhered to the same moltif: that the Aliyev administration feels “neglected” and that they are “peeved.” For instance, this Washington Post article by Craig Whitlock informs the reader that Gates carried a […]
The proposed budget for fiscal year 2010-2011 has been delivered to parliament. One of the brightest lights of the budget is the proposed 13.5% increase in allocated education expenditure. The Finance Minister has argued that the increase is the largest of any other sector in the budget. The lion’s share of the allocated funds is […]
On June 7th Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed the convocation ceremony at the Sher-e-Kashmir University in Srinagar. The thrust of visits by India’s various Prime Ministers to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) primarily revolve around issues of terrorism, peace talks with separatists, development packages and omissions and commissions of Pakistan. P.M. Manmohan Singh’s recent visit addressed these […]
The United States has pledged hundreds of millions of dollars this year to bolster the Palestinian economy and help develop infrastructure. Yesterday, President Obama approved the transfer of $400 million to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with the funds largely focused on a mortgage finance program. See the White House fact sheet below: Fact […]
The Obama administration proffered a two-part message at last week’s U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue meeting in Washington. The first part is that, after more than a year of treading water in bilateral affairs, the administration is re-focusing its attention on New Delhi. This signal, which was repeated loudly by U.S. officials starting with President Obama, received […]