Good news for President Karzai, the Afghan army, and US/NATO fighting forces in Afghanistan can be found in a poll commissioned by the BBC, ABC News and Germany’s ARD. 1500 Afghans from 34 provinces showed a surprising 70% affirmative that their country was headed in the right direction, a full 40% jump from last year. […]
Mommy, where do Putins come from? Some liberal analysts have suggested that he was parachuted into Russian politics by a sort of malevolent stork. More critical ones have insisted instead that he was asexually spawned by Yeltsin in his own image. Yet in the latest edition of the London Review of Books, Neal Ascherson reviews […]
Though it has yet to be confirmed, it appears Swedish diplomat Staffan di Mistura will replace Kai Eide as the top UN official in Afghanistan. Mistura has recently worked for the UN’s World Food Programme and as an official in Iraq. He served as director of fundraising and external relations for the U.N.’s office in […]
This week was the Russian Orthodox Christmas. Twenty years after Communism and somewhat at odds with the newfound Christian ardour of Russia’s elites, it’s not a big stand alone holiday, falling relatively quietly in the middle of the 10 day vacation starting with the big Soviet milestone of New Year’s. Yet at the same time, […]
ForeignPolicy.com has a fantastic slideshow of Afghanistan: 2009. I recommend checking out the entire collection, but here are some of my favorites: All these dramatic photos are amazing, but this one I found earlier this year is still my favorite: _
A former intelligence official called it a “high-level asset meeting gone bad.” Bad is definitely an understatement. Of course the comment is in reference to the suicide attack which killed 7 CIA agents at Forward Operating Base Chapman in border province of Khost. They were “experienced frontline officers and their knowledge and expertise will be […]
Tis the season for giving….and contributing to victory in Afghanistan?! Thanks to groups like Spirit of America we all have the opportunity to do both. Jim Hake, Spirit of America’s founder, implores all ‘ordinary’ citizens to help our soldiers in Afghanistan by helping the Afghan people. His group and many others have donated tons of […]
In 2009, did Russia celebrate or mourn 10 years of Putinism? RUSSIA REBORN? While experts can debate the extent, there is no doubt that the country has grown at least a little bit richer and stronger under Putin. However, as Daniil Kharms observed, the bigger the cucumbers in the shops, the better they can be […]
Overview: Kyrgyzstan played the US and Russia for a whole lot of money (Suez Crisis all over again?). There were scuffles between border guards over the Ferghana Valley borders. Nabucco is still on paper while a pipeline between China and Kazakhstan opened. Kazakhstan heads the OSCE while Kyrgyzstan kills or harasses those it considers enemies […]
Do we really need to do a recap regarding Afghanistan for 2009? I mean, what really happened? The only story that I can recall is an American soldier wearing pink boxers. Overview: Welllllll, I guess there was more to 2009 in Afghanistan than that. Cue ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire‘: “Food scarcity, Drone attacks, marital […]
Like James Dean, Yegor Gaidar lived hard and died young. But unlike Dean, the only victim of whose reckless driving was himself, the man who privatised Russia’s economy in the 1990s took his entire young country on a deadly joyride that wrecked millions of lives. That’s no hyperbole: The Lancet has determined that the Gaidar-engineered […]
First, some Afghan surge strategy news. Lt. Gen. David Rodriquez, the day-to-day commander of US and ISAF forces in Afghanistan provided a first glimpse of the actual implementation of the new strategy involving the addition of 30,000 more troops. In regard to the deployment of the thousands of surge troops, Rodriquez stated; “It will happen […]
In order to put pressure on Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan withdraws from the power grid linking the region. Power lines from Turkmenistan deliver electricity to Tajikistan while Uzbek power supplies both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Without steady supplies, these impoverished and mountainous countries will face severe shortages and unheated homes. Kyrgyzstan will get humanitarian assistance from […]
Manasi Kakatkar from FPA’s India blog posted a fascinating video about the Royal Gurkha Regiment fighting in Afghanistan, produced by Atlantic. The short documentary highlights the remarkable ability of the Gurkhas, who hail from Nepal, to effectively work with both their British and Afghan partners. The video has its own soundtrack too! Check it out: […]
“We are not ready to sign under the plans to cut 22-25% as part of a direct continuation of the Kyoto Protocol”, declared Russia’s environmental diplomat Oleg Shamanov. This despite the fact that Russia remains the only developed country ALREADY operating at below-1990 emissions levels, because of the post-Soviet industrial collapse. It has thus benefitted […]