After a long series of events featuring Portugal and the globalization/colonialization of Asia & South America, the Freer/Sackler Gallery is again turning to Rumi, the great poet, and his 800th anniversary of his birth. On the 27th of this month in Washington DC's great museum of Islamic and Asian art, a day-long festival of poetry […]
Today at Eurasianet, one of my favorite writers talks about a new but limited openness in Turkmenistan from the vantage of the street, the hotel, the taxicab. I love this article because it points out the difficulties for the state on a psychological level. He writes that government policies are changing slowly and selectively: his phone is probably tapped, […]
This month, several former leaders of states that support Central Asia's economic and political liberalization have weighed in on issues of globalization and economic integration. In particular, former President of Turkey Mr. Demirel discussed the historic and continuing participation of Turkey in Central Asia's economic development, noting that Turkey continues to build economic ties: Turkish […]
There's a great summary post at Global Voices that shows the many changes being implemented in the oil and gas industry; political appointments; and media ownership. The effect of this much change in such a short time is to make Central Asia watchers paranoid, and with good reason: in general, it takes time to assimilate the meanings […]
Well, first I want to apologize to everyone for not posting more regularly–it's been a little difficult to obtain a good internet signal so far. However, I think I have the problem solved–for now. It seems time to talk about what travel has taught me so far in respect to international relations. I am travelling in Costa Rica. […]
. . . . is water, although one wouldn't think so by the amount of ink and electrons we spend on hydrocarbon disposition. First, you have to have water to drink, wash, and grow crops; potable water is also required for reliable manufacture of pharmaceutical, cleaning, and other chemical products. Agriculture employs most of the people in […]
Hello, faithful readers of Casual Friday, the Afghanistan Aggregator, and the Central Asia Beat. They will all be here, only not today: Saturday or Sunday. It takes awhile to put them together–and I am finding my way to San Jose and a course of language instruction beginning Monday. Hasta domingo, you guys. Have a great […]
Two news articles on increased HIV in Central Asia this week: first, in Tajikistan, IWPR writes that HIV treatment and incidence is not well known by medical practitioners in Central Asia. HIV treatment was made available for the first time ever in Tajikistan last year. In the meantime, many patients have already died from the ravages […]
Those “open and constructive” meetings between Kazakhstan and the Kashagan consortium led by ENI are proceeding apace. The newest salvo in the negotiations is that Kazakhstan is asking for USD 10 billion in damages for non-performance of contract obligations. Later in the article, one oil analyst dismissed Kashagan's importance. This has to do, I’m sure, with […]
Lots of news: this is just some of it. Most of the news agencies seem to carry the domestic aspects for their own states of Afghanistan commitments–while most of the Afghanistan blogs seem to cover Afghanistan itself. There may be something to think about in that picture. Accurate reporting encouraged: –A wonderfully sarcastic week at Afghanistanica, where […]
The world is an interesting place, and Central Asia among the most interesting regions of the world. Now getting caught up for the week: Central Asia General: –In an interesting counterpoint to most discussion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization written in English, Japan Times has editorialized that the SCO is of benefit to the world community. […]
This week, China and Mongolia again agreed to work together to preserve an item of common cultural heritage, known as the long-song. Songs and rituals are known as intangible cultural heritage–unlike an archeological site or preserved document, they rely upon performance or behavior (“expressive culture”) in order to survive. The preservation effort: UNESCO began documenting world […]
Some new resources from the FPA are now available on-line. First of all, Abigail Mahoney has done a news round-up and fall update on Central Asia, particularly Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan. It's a good, quick, fact-filled read. Second, Marco Vincenzino has written a special two-part series on Afghanistan. The first part covers the domestic and […]
If only it were that simple: but a crop of news analysts and bloggers are seeing a rise in Realist theoretical constructs to explain what is happening in Central Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere. What is Realism? Contrary to its title, realism is not universally held to be the most “realistic” of theories. It […]
Providing for education is a big part of a sustained aid: providing teachers, doctors, and nurses, with the tools and means to bring knowledge and self-help to Afghanistan's citizens and to the nation as a whole. Frequently with aid we think of supplies. Yet knowledge is something that cannot be taken away, from the mentoring of a surgeon […]