Gordon, a scholar at the Brookings Institute, has been appointed as assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, though he has yet to be confirmed by the Senate. EurasiaNet reports that this is a political appointment as Gordon is a close associate of Obama’s with little experience in the former Soviet Union. Apparently, this […]
Registan’s critique of scholarship on Islam in Central Asia got me thinking. The writer, Nathan, focuses on Soviet scholarship, but I am more familiar with Central Asia under tsarist rule. Either way, Nathan critiques the scholarship Islam in Central Asia because it typically starts from the postulate that Muslims are inherently violent fanatics. He is […]
So while many news outlets, including yours truly, made fun of Nazarbayev’s plan for a world currency, a Nobel-prize winner Professor Robert Mundell thinks it’s quite plausible. He was the architect of the euro and believes the idea could be expanded. I continue to seriously doubt it, Nobel prize or not. I see Nazarbayev’s remarks […]
What human rights? Activists say that the ruling regimes in Central Asia deny their citizens basic freedoms, like freedom of the press or assembly. I have always thought that that is beyond the point. Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are considered part of the top 8 most repressive in the world. I believe them. Religious freedom is routinely […]
As this blog has been insisting, regional ties are the answer to many of Central Asia’s problems, rather than the West or even Russia. This Radio Liberty article describes how the State Department groups the post-Soviet Central Asian states together with the South Asian states in a long-term effort to promote ties between US-friendly states […]
Over at the Afghanistan blog, I wrote a piece about the Sister City program between San Diego, California and Jalalabad, Afghanistan. This group does a lot of amazing work that should be recognized. Maybe we should have a ‘surge’ of Sister Cities!
After reports that Kygyzstan was still waiting for Russia to send money, and Kyrgyz officials attempting to seem ambivalent, the money is in and the US has to leave by August 20th. I hope Kyrgyz officials decide to do something useful with their money, for example, by increasing funding of the Red Crescent, which is […]
Kazakhstan has been living it up the last decade, maintaining nearly 10% growth due to high LNG and oil prices. The government built an insane new capital, as seen above, while migrants from the other Central Asian countries came to work in Kazakhstan. Now the economy has been hit hard hard by the worldwide drop […]
Turkmenistan has agreed to allow non-lethal NATO supplies to be transported through its air space. This is a big deal because Turkmenistan is officially neutral and has been very cautious about getting mixed up into any other state’s affairs. The Turkmen president, Berdymukhamedov, announced the new agreements on his visit to Tashkent February 24-25th. According […]
In more good news about Tajikistan and Uzbekistan relations, 85% of their border has now been agreed upon by both sides. Only four points of contention remain, but this is still progress. I cannot guess why they decided to finally deal with this, but alls well that ends well. In other good news, electricity rationing […]
Kazakhstan has disconnected from Central Asia’s power grid, arguing that some parts of the country were experiencing blackouts due to Tajikistan using too much power. Unfortunately, neighboring Kyrgyzstan is being affected and is limiting electricity use in the peak evening hours, including in the capital. Kazakhstan says it will be directing energy use to domestic […]
EurasiaNet published an informative piece on the complicated relationships between state media outlets and regional cooperation. The recent summit between Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan on water seemed like it yielded tangible results, but while in Tashkent, Turkmenistan’s president, Gurbangly Berdymukhamedov, stated that any water projects should be subject to international feasibility studies. Tajik media interpreted this […]
After Russia forced Kyrgyzstan’s hand in closing Manas Airbase, the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), formed in 2002, has increased its role by creating a Rapid Reaction Force. The CSTO includes the four central asian states except for Turkmenistan (which is officially neutral), Russia, Belarus and Armenia. Its stated purpose is preserving its member states […]
Adeeb Khalid, a professor of history at Carleton College and Central Asian expert, wrote ‘Islam after Communism‘ in an attempt to educate those who view Central Asian Muslims through the prism of Muslims in the Middle East, in effect, ignoring their own history and societal changes and make up. Khalid effectively hammers down the point […]
Now that Manas was officially ordered to be closed this past Friday, the US has 6 months to close up shop. On Tuesday, General Petraus visited Tashkent to discuss alternative supply routes. As you likely know, in 2005 the US base in Uzbekistan was closed after Uzbek authorities machine gunned 500 people in Andijon and […]