The stronger downstream countries are teaming up to block hydropower projects in their much poorer neighbors ahead of an upcoming conference. This is truly unfortunate as Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are experiencing political and economic unrest. To make matters worse, Uzbekistan is limiting shipments of gas to Tajikistan over outstanding debt. In a terrible catch-22, Tajikistan […]
Afghanistan is once again in the news for many reasons. First off, Elina at FPA’s Central Asia blog has reported that not only has the US officially secured a transit route through Uzbekistan, but also that Kyrgyzstan is actually still considering allowing the US to stay at the Manas Air Base. Hmmm. Secondly, Sec of […]
Well, not too far. Apart from an Aeromexico direct flight from Mexico City to Shanghai, Mexico’s foreign policy is not particularly global in scope. Of course it could be argued that Mexico has now a prominent place in the community of nations because it just recently assumed the Presidency of the UN Security Council. Unfortunately, […]
While Canada has been casting a wary eye on Russian plans in the Arctic, Norway has no such qualms about the Kremlin’s plans for the High North. On March 27, the Russian Security Council revealed its Arctic strategy through the year 2020 and beyond. The plan includes improving and enlarging the capabilities of Russia’s military […]
The Associated Press has all but declared today’s much anticipated April 6 Youth Movement general strike a failure. The movement had been hoping to stage numerous protests and demonstrations in the wake of last year’s April 6 strike, which led to the death of three Egyptians, the wounding of dozens, and hundreds of arrests. As […]
Reuters reported this morning that President Obama has relaxed the Pentagon ban on media coverage of casualties of war returning to the US. Now, instead of forbidding pictures of returning coffins, the family is allowed to choose whether or not to allow cameras upon arrival. The ban began in 1991 during the first Gulf War, although […]
Future Movement leader Saad Hariri declared his platform of disarmament of all resistance groups in Lebanon. At the party’s rally Sunday night, Hairi declared, “The arms of the Lebanese state should triumph over all other arms. The dialogue table should tackle the issue of the resistance’s arms while discussing means by which Israeli offensives against […]
Controversial Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman called for the “reconsideration” of the Oslo Accords, days after his installation ceremony when he made dismissive comments regarding the Annapolis summit. Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel to promptly accept a two-state solution. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad continues to increase rhetoric on Middle Eastern Peace, this time lauding […]
The Iranian president is set to meet with his Kazakh counterpart tomorrow to discuss fishing rights in the Caspian Sea and regional security. In what I gather to be a closely related event, in recent weeks, the Kazakhs have offered to host, according to the Wall Street Journal, “the international “nuclear fuel bank” where nations […]
While the Euros were skimping on troops, I found these two worthwhile videos about Afghanistan. The first features Fariba Nawa, an award-winning Afghan-American journalist, attempting to provide her audience with an Afghani view of the US/NATO presence in their country. In her short talk, Nawa argues that what most Afghans fear is that the US […]
During the 2009 Arab League summit in Doha last weekend, there was much clamor made in support of Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir and his continued defiance of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant in his name. Bashir is wanted by the ICC for his alleged role in the genocide taking place in the Darfur […]
She is not the first victim of the Taliban’s barbarity nor is she likely to be the last. But the grainy footage of a 17-year-old girl being publicly flogged in Swat has brought home for many the reality of the living hell that is today’s Pakistan. Pinned to the ground and encircled by onlookers, the […]
File Under: Color Me Unsurprised. Sudan’s National Electoral Commission has announced that this year’s scheduled presidential and parliamentary elections, mandated by 2005’s Comprehensive Peace Agreements, have been postponed until 2010. Sudan has not had a general election since 1986. Khartoum’s thugs have no interest in giving up power or even in having to have that power […]
Well, that didn’t take long. The Niger Delta’s largest rebel group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), took a cursory look at Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua’s amnesty offer for those rebels willing to forswear violence and basically said “thanks, but no thanks,” dismissing the offer as “unrealistic.”
