Kyrgyzstan's schools will now teach the Epic of Manas as a required component of the curriculum. IWPR did not say whether this was to go to grade school, secondary school, or university (or all of the above). Like Homer's epics, the Epic of Manas is part of an oral tradition; unlike Homer, his work is still […]
A United Nations Official has concluded that Africans will only pay attention to climate change when it can be couched in human consequences: “Most people are unable to relate to the projections of increase in temperature or the impact of climate change on the economy, but if the climate change forecasts are linked to possible […]
Something new and significant: a possible two-party state? Recently Nur-Otan, President Nazarbaev's party, has consolidated with some smaller opposition parties. Now the opposition takes steps: Kazakhstan's opposition parties, Ak Zhol and the National Social Democrats, have merged. The new opposition party hopes to make a difference in the next Parliamentary elections. While we’re all waiting […]
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost a highly contentious presidential election to Felipe Calderon last year, toured the southern state of Chiapas recently to advocate for transparent local elections. Obrador claimed that the buying of votes, mainly in the indigenous communities, is the main obstacle preventing democratic reform in the country. Obrador, the candidate of the Party […]
Last week, Secretary of Defense Gates measured the costs of Ganci AFB in Manas against the costs of other bases maintained by foreign powers in Kyrgyzstan. This whirlwind trip-with-comparative analysis, designed to keep Ganci open, was followed by today's visit from a high-ranking U.S. official, Undersecretary of State Boucher. Mr. Boucher made the U.S. position quite clear […]
Through twenty-six years of war and repression, Afghanistan has lost its ability to meet its public health needs. The efforts to rebuild health care systems continues, with mixed results. This was illustrated for me yesterday, when I read Asne Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul. Though Seierstad's book focused upon family relations, disease just kept cropping up over […]
The Supreme Court of Mexico struck down the national “Televisa law,” which was enacted last year to give away bandwidth for television, Internet, and telephone services exclusively to two media giants, Televisa and TV Azteca, without bids or compensation to the government. Lawmakers will now have to re-draft the law to allow competition. In making the ruling, […]
This week I received a flock of new State Department fact sheets on H5N1 Avian influenza. The leader of these flying missives was : U.S. Government Support to Combat Avian and Pandemic Influenza — An Update , which reminds us of the potential seriousness of any viral mutation in creating a human flu pandemic. In the […]
With everything else going on in Kazakhstan right now, the following video is a nice reminder that elections still have to go to the people. Here is one of Mr. Nazarbaev's election videos in a series called: Don't Change Horses, or perhaps, Don't Change the Horse that has Carried You. I particularly like this one because it […]
I couldn't tell if Ferghana.ru was laughing or cursing (maybe both) when they wrote this article: Bob Gates saves US base from Kyrgyz authorities. Secretary Gates flew in from Afghanistan, compared base agreements between the U.S. and other countries with base arrangements in Kyrgyzstan, and then announced their parity to the Kyrgyz press. After the […]
Yesterday, the US House of Representatives voted for a USD 6.4 billion aid package for Afghanistan through 2010. According to yesterday's Reuters report, the House also stipulated that Afghanistan's aid should not go to provinces where officials are involved in drug trade or aiding insurgents. Reports on province-by-province governance will now be required for Congressional […]
Over at the Eurasian Transition Group Web site, Mr. Laubsch has translated into English and posted Rakhat Aliev's interview with Austria's Profil Magazine. In it, Mr. Aliev states that his nomination of Mr. Nazarbaev to King of Kazakhstan last year was an ironic statement, which I personally missed along with a bunch of others. Or. That […]
The undisclosed percentage of Aliev-Nazarbaeva shares in Nurbank has at last been reported at 51% in Financial Times. Along with the 6.3% owned by Mr. Aliev's father, we now know about 60% of Nurbank ownership is held by Aliev connections. I don't believe in conspiracy theories very often, for the simple reason that few people keep […]
Mexican President Felipe Calderon kicked off a five-nation tour of Europe this week, hoping to promote trade relations, increase investment in Mexico, and boost European tourism to Mexico. Calderon began his trip in Rome, where he met with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. Calderon was scheduled to meet with 400 Italian business executives in Milan […]
For the next few weeks I’ll be on the road celebrating my impending (Saturday . . . tick … tock … tick … tock) nuptials and so while I’ll be blogging as I can, it might be both light and a bit less analytical than usual. In other words, more links, less of my opinions. […]