President Bush concluded his Latin America tour with a meeting in Mexico with President Felipe Calderon — their first meeting since Calderon took office in December. Bush has been the target of demonstrations throughout his trip, and many in Mexico are disappointed in the Bush Administration's policies, particularly as they relate to immigration, as well […]
One of the major reasons why this blog, putatively devoted to South Africa, has so emphasized Zimbabwe thus far is that beyond the obvious significance of Zim right now, the country also represents South Africa's biggest foreign policy challenge. It is too facile to assert that South Africa is doing nothing as so many obeservers have […]
On January 26, 2006, the Eurasian Economic Security Council (EAEC or EurAsSec) announced the inception of a new development bank that aims to improve economic issues for its member states. According to Vladimir Putin, the Eurasian Development Bank (EADB, or sometimes EDB) was proposed by Nursultan Nazarbaev in 2004, in order to create regional economic […]
What in the West we consider to be the Central Asian state furthest from international access, India is calling "the fulcrum of regional geopolitics." In a move little noted elsewhere, India has developed its first foreign air base‚ in Tajikistan. The Ayni base is a former Soviet airbase used to supply the Soviet-Afghanistan war, but […]
Eighty years ago, Stalinists attempted to eradicate specific Central Asian religious and cultural practices: one such undesired practice, again relevant, concerned the customary headcoverings for Islamic women (hijab). According to articles by Douglas Northrop in 2000 and 2001 (see Worth Reading: Uzbekistan), Bolsheviks in Uzbekistan began korenizatsaiia (nativization) in the early 1920's. By 1926, they had identified traditional Islamic […]
The International Crisis Group has posited a possible solution to the Zimbabwe stalemate. Their outline has garnered the general support in principle of both factions of the divided Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe's major opposition party, as well as members of President Robert Mugabe's own Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) whose dissatisfaction with the status quo is growing. The plan […]
According to the Wall Street Journal, Wal-Mart now accounts for half of all retail sales in Mexico. Wal-Mart de Mexico reported net sales in 2005 of $164.3 billion pesos (or $15.4 billion U.S. dollars). The American retailer has expanded to several countries, and its success in Mexico has encouraged it to seek out other developing […]
"more than words can wield the matter" Dariga Nazarbaeva, the eldest daughter of Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbaev, continues to be the most influential word-wielder in Kazakhstan. Ms. Nazarbaeva is the Founder, previous President, and Chairperson for Khabar, Kazakhstan's media conglomerate. According to BBC, Darigha Nazarbaeva and her husband, Rakhat Aliev, own a media empire that […]
Over the course of an interview in the Mail & Guardian Zwelinzima Vavi, the secretary general of the Congress of South African Trade Unions asserted that his organization wants to re-establish itself as a more powerful player within the African National Congress’ tripartite alliance of COSATU, the South African Communist Party (SACP) and the ANC […]
Mongolia Web reports that New York's Lincoln Center Fest will present the Secret History of the Mongols July 22-29, 2007. Nine musicians and storytellers will perform the work at the Clark Studio Theater. This passage is from The Secret History of the Mongols: In time Dobun passed away and after he was gone Alan the Fair, without a […]
Former Mexican President Vicente Fox spoke on a wide range of issues at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas last week. Addressing his disapproval of the U.S. plan to construct a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, Fox took an historical approach, saying that walls “didn't work” in Berlin and China. In addition to immigration […]
President Bush is embarking on a trip to Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, Uruguay, and Colombia in an effort to re-engage the region. The visit comes on the heels of newly announced aid to Latin America, but many in the region have concerns about U.S. policy and the direction of U.S.-Latin American relations. Protesters in Brazil, the President's […]
At The Mail & Guardian Virginia Tilley, a chief research specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council, speculates about Africa's, and especially South Africa's, role in a potential war against Iran and in the “War on Terror” generally. Her conclusions are probably not what the Bush administration would want to hear: Renewed crisis in Somalia […]
Swanee Hunt, director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and chairwoman of The Initiative for Inclusive Security, published an op-ed piece in today's <i>Boston Globe</i> praising the progress Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, “Ma Ellen,” has made in Liberia in her first year as that country's president: Despite 14 years of […]
The Proteas, South Africa's cricket team, are readying themselves for the World Cup, which starts this month in the West Indies. Although a number of teams see themselves in contention to win the final in late April, the South Africans have been playing well and have a good chance to pull off a victory. If […]