Afghanistan is once again in the news for many reasons. First off, Elina at FPA’s Central Asia blog has reported that not only has the US officially secured a transit route through Uzbekistan, but also that Kyrgyzstan is actually still considering allowing the US to stay at the Manas Air Base. Hmmm. Secondly, Sec of […]
The Iranian president is set to meet with his Kazakh counterpart tomorrow to discuss fishing rights in the Caspian Sea and regional security. In what I gather to be a closely related event, in recent weeks, the Kazakhs have offered to host, according to the Wall Street Journal, “the international “nuclear fuel bank” where nations […]
While the Euros were skimping on troops, I found these two worthwhile videos about Afghanistan. The first features Fariba Nawa, an award-winning Afghan-American journalist, attempting to provide her audience with an Afghani view of the US/NATO presence in their country. In her short talk, Nawa argues that what most Afghans fear is that the US […]
News has broke that the US has signed a deal with Uzbekistan for allowing the transit of non-lethal material through the country and into Afghanistan, with which it shares a border. Interestingly, Kyrgyzstan is now dropping hints that the US can remain at the Manas air base. However, with the increasing political turmoil there, including […]
It took a matter of days for the Obama administration to get baptized into the irregular and hard to define modern way of warfare we live in today and one of their first decisions appears to be under fire, at least mildly. In late February, Obama administration Justice officials, in a two sentence court filing, […]
Jobs and wages are being cut at state companies in Kazakhstan. Until now, economic troubles had been more or less confined to the private sector, but now the public sector must cut costs drastically. In the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan, official unemployment has nearly doubled, from 10,000 a year ago to 17,500 now. In addition, […]
When ‘death’ and ‘newspapers’ are mentioned in the same sentence these days, it is usually to describe the demise of a media company. In Russia, alas, the meaning is more often than not deadly literal. The London Times reported that local journalist “Sergei Protazanov, who was disabled and had a prosthetic arm, died after doctors […]
With a ‘hello‘ between US Envoy Richard Holbrooke and an Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister garnering the most media attention, the International Conference on Afghanistan was underway at The Hague in Netherlands. This major conference features a geopolitical who’s who of actors influenced by the conflict, including representatives from Pakistan, Iran (wow, I didn’t know they […]
“In Pikalevo, something unusual for modern Russia is happening: the people are taking a stand against the government and its economic policies, blaming them as much as the factory-owners for their plight”. So states today’s BBC report by Richard Galpin, which chronicles recent industrial unrest stemming from the shut down of factories that serve as […]
On Sunday, the Afghan Supreme Court ruled in favor of extending the legality of Hamid Karzi’s term as president all the way until new elections, which are set to occur in late August. This is obviously a delicate matter as the country’s young constitution states that Karzai’s legitimate rule should end in May and opposition […]
Eurasian Daily Moniter reports that the recent meeting between the leaders of Russia and Turkmenistan is part of Russia’s broader policy of exploiting disagreements over energy within the EU states. There are large discrepancies in the amount of gas recieved from Russia within the EU and a consummate lack of agreement as to how to […]
I told you earlier that I would keep you up to date on all Shanghai Cooperation Organization issues and happenings here, but I went on vacation and David Kampf at FPA’s Rising Powers beat me too it. Here’s his blog piece about a Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit on Afghanistan. For the first time a US official […]
So of course I take a vacation right as Afghanistan hits the front pages around the world. President Obama held a press conference on Friday to announce a new US strategy in Afghanistan, which included a new outlook on the reasons and goals for our presence there. I will get into the pros and cons […]
Less than a year after Boris Yeltsin named him responsible for national economic reform, the Russian economy completely collapsed; his closest political ally, Anatoly Chubais, is one of the most hated men in Russia; under his leadership the Union of Right Forces party managed to eke out a liliputian 4% in the 2003 elections. With […]
On March 25, Turkmen President Gurbankuly Berdymuhammedov traveled to Moscow to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and discuss a series of issues. The two countries have generally good relations as Russia is Turkmenistan’s biggest trading partner. They discussed electricity, transportation, natural gas, agriculture, and communication systems. The most important deal to come out of […]