The American Commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Dan K. McNeill, gave an optimistic appraisal of Afghanistan's stability on Sunday, stating that the Afghan army and police forces should be able to secure most of the country by 2011. McNeill argued that Afghan forces have done an effective job managing security for Kabul, although […]
On April 11, I reported on the EU Troika-Central Asian summit held in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The post and most media outlets focused on energy relations and human rights issues between the EU representatives and all of the CA leaders present. It was reported that during the summit there was talk of a growing relationship between […]
On April 8th, Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher testified before the House's subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific and the Global Environment. His testimony mainly focused on Kazakhstan's upcoming chairmanship of the OSCE in 2010 and how the US had put pressure on its current regime […]
Richard Weitz, a scholar for the Hudson Institute, makes the argument that China's government has either exaggerated or outright fabricated a plot by Uighur separatist to attack the upcoming Olympics. The plot in question was reported by Chinese authorities on April 10, and in their words involved 45 suspects from the Uighur dominated Xinjiang Province, […]
The World Bank (WB) provided a briefing regarding the state of Eastern European and Central Asian economies before their annual IMF spring meeting. The World Bank's report reinforced most of the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) recent analysis of the current and future state of CA's economy. For instance, the World Bank warns of a coming […]
New York City's Winkleman Gallery is currently exhibiting seven media projects called “I Dream of the Stans: New Central Asian Video.” One of the exhibitions curators, Leeza Ahmady, stated that their aim was to ‘assemble a representative collection that highlighted the adventurous spirit of regional artists.’ The exhibition features such CA artists as Said Atabekov, […]
In yet another sign that Turkmenistan is coming out of its isolationist shell, Ashgabat just finished hosting a meeting between the European Union's Troika and Central Asia's foreign ministers. The Troika is headed by Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, EU External Relations Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, and the EU's special representative for […]
The Asian Development Bank (ADB), an organization dedicated to poverty reduction in Asia and the Pacific, has come out with their Asian Development Outlook 2008 report, analyzing the Central Asian and Caucasus economies. Overall, the report finds that the states of these regions have had significant economic growth in the past few years, but […]
"Freedom for Uighurs. Freedom for Tibet. We must fight together." Can Asgar, a leader of the Uighur diaspora in Munich In the midst of widespread protests following the Olympic Torch in London and Paris, two other anti-Chinese government demonstrations by Uighurs in China's Xinjiang Province and in Istanbul, Turkey have recently occurred. The first and […]
Happy Friday! 4 Quick Items about subjects we have touched on recently: 1. Joshua Foust at Registan.net brings greater depth to this blog's analysis of Central Asia's water problems which appeared yesterday. Along with discussing Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan's recent water troubles, Foust reports on a recent raid by Tajikistan citizens into Kyrgyzstan in order to […]
The Journal of Turkish Weekly recently wrote an interesting piece concerning Central Asia's growing water issues, which I briefly touched on about a week ago when I reported on EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana's speech concerning climate change. The Journal's outlook focus's on Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan's "uneasy' water and energy relationship, mainly pertaining to […]
In an earlier post, I discussed a burgeoning Russia/NATO partnership concerning Afghanistan. This agreement, which is being negotiated as we speak at the Bucharest NATO Summit, however, may not come to fruition. Only a day or so ago, Konstantin Kosachev, head of Russia's State Duma Committee for Foreign Affairs, stated that the agreement was "premature' […]
Iran's Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki officially requested entry into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization this March 27. The move was sponsored by Tajikistan's President, Emomali Rahmon. Iran's request and possible ascension into the SCO needs greater analysis: What are their chances for becoming an official member? How does it benefit Iran? How would it benefit/hurt China, […]
On May 2-4, Moscow will host a major International AIDS conference that will focus on the virus's growth in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. In an interview, Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, stated that "HIV is increasing more rapidly in Central Asia than in any other part of the world.' Piot blames widespread injecting-drug […]
In connection to Monday's discussion of the power dynamics between Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and newly-elected President, Dmitry Medvedev, I want to now examine Medvedev's liberal credentials. This of course will be discussed in the context that as President, Medvedev will most likely be playing a deferential role to Putin's Prime Minister Office, but […]