Although the mandate of this blog is primarily to deal with South Africa, I plan to take a catholic view of my responsibilities and will regularly feature news and commentary from the rest of Africa. Consider my approach to represent a coupling of the Pan-Africanist dream with the fact that South Africa does not exist […]
Human rights groups have recently come forward to ask that the European Union (EU) continue to implement sanctions against Uzbekistan in response to the Andijan Massacre of May 12, 2005. The EU met on March 5, 2007, to review the sanctions, which have not thus far borne any positive behavioral results. They called for Uzbekistan […]
Whether you are a neophyte to South Africa or an experienced hand you’ll find this article in The Economist to provide a useful primer on the current state of affairs in South Africa on matters ranging from crime to the economy to the always-fascinating political climate. For links to and analysis of Thabo Mbeki's recent State […]
The pageant's focus now turns again to domestic considerations. As suitable for a seamless transition, the new policies thus borrowed heavily from the old. The new President of Turkmenistan has announced the commissioning of a new statue of Turkmenbashi, to honor in death a man who has had countless statues of himself erected already; raising […]
Saparmurat Niyazov, Leader and Showman, Turkmenbashi the Great and President for Life of Turkmenistan, passed away on December 21, 2006. Turkmenistan's constitutionally-mandated succession was bypassed in favor of the Acting Presidency of Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, the Minister of Health and Pharmaceutical Industries. The legal successor, Ovezgeldy Atayev, the Speaker and Deputy Chairman of the 2,500-member legislature […]
Hello, Central Asia Watchers, and welcome! This quotation comes from the Say It In Kazakh Web page of the Kazakhstan Embassy to the United States and Canada. Click here for a table of Central Asia Flash Facts; go to the “Worth Reading” Page of this blog for a kind of running bibliography of non-Internet source […]
<script type=”text/javascript”> var gaJsHost = ((“https:” == document.location.protocol) ? “https://ssl.” : “http://www.”); document.write(unescape(“%3Cscript src=’” + gaJsHost + “google-analytics.com/ga.js’ type=’text/javascript’%3E%3C/script%3E”)); </script> <script type=”text/javascript”> try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker(“UA-12241540-3”); pageTracker._setDomainName(“.foreignpolicyblogs.com”); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}</script> My name is Derek Catsam and I am thrilled to serve as a blogger and writer for the Foreign Policy Association’s “Great […]