I found this Central Asia album book in my favorite used bookstore. Original publishing date: Glasnost. Magown, Robin (text) and Gippenreiter, Vadim (photos). Fabled Cities of Central Asia: Samarkand-Bukhara-Khiva. New York: Abbeville Press, 1989. This is not the first old book I have become enchanted with, nor will it be the last. My all-time favorite […]
My first FPA “Great decisions Analysis,” a piece titled “South Africa's Regional Superpower Dilemma,” is now up and has also been linked on the FPA home page.
Well, at least we know that Robert Mugabe is nothing if not predictable. The sun will rise, the sun will set, and Mugabe's security state minions will crush dissent. In a Washington Post story based on a report by Human Rights Watch, the Washington Post reports that “Zimbabwean authorities have arrested, abducted and tortured hundreds […]
In March, I researched Dariga Nazarbaeva, Kazakhstan's media doyenne, and found out about the Eurasia Media Forum. I meant to post on this years’ minutes of this worthwhile conference, and even went looking for articles. I don't know why I couldn't find anything until now, but Ben Paarman over at neweurasia.net blog posted an excellent heads-up article on the […]
Pricewaterhouse report in English (word document) [no longer available] (I have been contacted by PwC who has asked that this be removed May 23, 2007) A few days ago, I wrote on Mark Seidenfeld's incarceration and delayed trial in Kazakhstan. In response, I received two lengthy comments and further research references from both commentators. Since […]
This from today's RFE/RL: After a two-day closed trial, journalist and human rights defender Umida Niyazova was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment yesterday. The trial had been postponed from its original April 19th date, with no reason given for the postponement. Freedom House, IREX, Pen International and Pen American Center, Human Rights Watch, and fidh.org […]
The Nordic African Studies community has always produced some of the most thoughtful, insightful and important work on Africa. Foremost amongst these organizations is the Nordiska Afrikainstitutet (The Nordic African Institute), which is based in Uppsala, Sweden. The Institute pulls together serious research and scholarship, policy discussion, and other work. The Institute produces a high […]
Louise Arbour, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, met with Kazakhstan's Prime Minister Karim Massimov in order to discuss Kazakhstan's continuing progress on those very rights. Prime Minister Massimov noted that Kazakhstan has signed and ratified above forty important accords in the human rights sphere including international pacts for civil, political, economical, social, and cultural […]
From Los Angeles to New York, and in several cities in between, immigrants and activists marched on May 1st in support of immigration reform, and specifically, a reformed path to legalization for those in the country illegally. When covering immigration, and illegal immigration in particular, members of the U.S. media tend to focus on Mexico. And, indeed, […]
IRIN reports that there is yet another impediment to effective AIDS treatment in South Africa. Apparently rape survivors tend to get left out in prevention and treatment programs. In a normal society this might pass as a loose end left untied. but in a country beset by both AIDS and abominably high rape figures it goes […]
This post is designed to help non-Kyrgyzstanis follow individuals and organizations involved in Kyrgyzstan's current political crisis, as well as report on further developments: Following the constitutional demonstrations of April 11 through 19, 2007, which ended badly: Arrests were made, and opposition leaders were to be held for two months, in order to "complete investigations", […]
For those of you who read my post on Mark Seidenfeld's incarceration and trial delay, the article by Ilan Greenberg has been corrected at the NYT site (I linked to the International Herald Tribune version of NYT piece). As noted by comments received, Mr. Seidenfeld's employer was improperly attributed. In the details of the legal case, no […]
Bermet Akaeva, the daughter of ousted Kyrgyzstani President Askar Akaev, recently continued her odd-yssey of reinstatement in Kyrgyzstan's political life. On March 23 of this year, she filed to run as a candidate for national legislature from the northern Kemin district. More than a month of legal challenges in Kyrgyzstani courts ensued. On April 27, her candidature was […]
President Felipe Calderon participated in Earth Day ceremonies on an ecological reserve, calling for greater environmental education in the country's schools. Arguing that educational programs will improve the environment and combat global warming, Calderon also signed a decree aimed at protecting the endangered “El Hundido” aquifer in Coahuila state. Calderon has developed an environmental initiative […]
Given it's role as the largest anti-apartheid liberation organization, its central role in the transition to democracy, and its virtually insuperable status in the country's politics today it should come as no suprise that the African National Congress is far and away the most scrutinized (and criticized) political party in South Africa. From issues of politics […]