Russia & Central Asia

The NY Times notes the rise of Central Asians, especially those from the Ferghana Valley, crossing into Afghanistan to fight alongside the Taliban. Many have been killed by security forces upon their return home. While at first glance, one would be concerned, upon deeper investigation, the likelihood is low of a Taliban-style insurgency forming and […]

These are trying, heady times in Afghanistan.  We are nearly on the eve of the nation’s second presidential election since the overthrow of the Taliban and much is at stake.  The Afghan government has ordered a halt to reports of violence, the Taliban have made sure there has been violence to report, and the candidates […]

Afghanistan continues to find its way onto American news cycles and like most news, it’s of the bad and bloody variety.  The US military is on the verge of releasing its latest strategic review of the conflict and how the US expects to go forward, with the hottest topic (more troops?) being avoided.  The Taliban […]

While many, including myself, have advocated getting rid of the term ‘AfPak’, the Foreign Policy website has decided to take it full boar…devoting a whole page to ‘The Af-Pak Channel: Inside the War for South Asia‘.  Though I haven’t had a chance to dig deep into the site’s contents and intriciacies, one can quickly see […]

Gorbachev tried it, and was nearly overthrown. But these days, two thirds of all Russians back a War on Alcoholism. This according to a nation-wide poll revealed today in the popular online newspaper Gazeta.ru under the headline: “Bored of Drinking”. Good news for Medvedev, who had earlier gingerly floated an idea of fighting alcoholism as […]

In any other news week, the title of most amusing story would certainly have gone to the BBC for comparing Putin to a character out of Brokeback Mountain: “Photographs of a bare-chested Mr Putin riding a horse through mountain scenery may of course put some people…in mind of a recent Hollywood film about gay cowboys”. […]

Three important issues to cover, let’s go! Ghani Gets a US Soapbox – Presidential hopeful Ashraf Ghani wrote a ‘why I should be President of Afghanistan and not Karzai’ piece in the Wall Street Journal this weekend and he comes out swinging.  Ghani argues that Karzai ‘turned’, not ‘helped’ or ‘let’, but ‘turned’ Afghanistan into […]

When Iran’s presidential election turned into a full blown protest movement, I have to confess that my first regionally centered thoughts turned to Iraq, not Afghanistan.  I wondered if the relatively peaceful and successful provincial elections held in Iraq had had an effect on their nearby Iranian neighbors.  On the other side of Iran, of […]

Russia will open a new base in Osh, Kyrgyzstan, later this year. Osh once hosted a Soviet airbase and is strategically located in the Ferghana Valley, extremely close to Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. The agreement will last for 49 years, to be renewed thereafter. All soldiers there will have diplomatic immunity, a courtesy not extended to […]

It’s hard to believe, but the people of Afghanistan will go to the polls in just over three weeks to choose their next president.  Though the incumbent Hamid Karzai is the clear favorite, but his return to the state’s head office is not assured as challengers Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani have gone on the […]

“Our future is certain; it’s the past that keeps changing’ was how Soviet dissidents lamented the re-writing of history. If only they knew what was coming! Today’s Russia may have lost the certainty of a Communist future, but certainly not the state’s stranglehold over the past. Russia is not alone, of course. The teaching of […]

One of the greatest challenges facing the United States, its NATO allies, and the Afghan government is how to handle what is sure to be a rising prison population.  The US/NATO troop surge has been followed by more aggressive efforts to take back Taliban-dominated areas and these missions have inevitably led to an increase in […]

The president of Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, earned 85 percent of the vote, winning the July 23rd election, which came as no surprise to anyone, whether the Kyrgyz population or any of the major powers. His opponent, SDP leader Almazbek Atambayev, ran a weak campaign that few expected to succeed. It is hard to write this […]

Excuse me World, how are you feeling about the NATO presence in Afghanistan?  What are your thoughts about a possible return to rule by the Taliban? While WorldPublicOpinion.org asked the world, well almost 65% of it (actually just a few thousand scattered people), to share their thoughts on such questions in a recent survey last […]

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) recent resolution marking August 23rd as a day of remembrance for Nazism and Stalinism has sparked quite an uproar over the past couple weeks. Russia’s Federal Assembly (the 176 member Federation Council and 450 member State Duma, respectively) issued a statement that the decision to equate […]