Here are a few interesting items to keep you cool this weekend. The Central Asia plus Japan Dialogue fourth representational level meeting took place in Tashkent on July 15. For Japan the meeting was ‘aimed to deepen the multifaceted interaction with Central Asia and Uzbekistan, provide for stability and regional security, enhance the trade and […]
The recent spat with America and Britain over Zimbabwe and Russia's continued intransigence over the US AMB shield in the Czech republic have dashed the hopes of many in the West that Medvedev would make a qualitative departure from Putin. The Guardian's Luke Harding put it just so: Medvedev's hardline comments in one of his […]
With what can only be called a victory for the Taliban, US forces abandoned their makeshift base in the Kunar Province, which was ambushed days ago. In this context, Today I want to bring to your attention two outstanding articles which provide a greater understanding of the Afghanistan/Pakistan border Pashtun people, culture, and security situation. […]
In an incident that looks like it could be linked to two stories recently discussed on this blog, Russia's energy policy in Central Asia and Islamic militant groups based in the region, a 20-mile section of a natural gas pipeline, which travels from western Kazakhstan into Russian territory, was shut down late yesterday after an […]
Freedom House put two new reports out in June of interest: Nations in Transit 2008 Annual Report and Supporting Freedom's Advocates?: An Analysis of the Bush Administration FY2008 Budget Request for Democracy and Human Rights (Follow the link down the page and download the pdf under ‘Past Reports’) These reports are linked in an unfortunate […]
Two interconnected, disturbing trends concerning Islamic militants from Central Asia committing violent and terrorist acts in and around the Afghanistan/Pakistan border are becoming more visible by the day. The first is the report from unidentified two US senior military officials based in the Middle East that Al Qaeda has stepped up its recruitment in Central […]
Have I been completely missing something or has everyone lost their minds regarding this whole Zimbabwe sanctions situation? Russia and China resisted putting on sanctions on Mugabe and now Britain and the US have been openly questioning Russia's fitness to belong to the G8. Normally level-headed commentators have been feverishly proclaiming their disappointment in Russian […]
The exile is backsort of. Newly reincarnated as the exileD, it is run out of "Putin-proof" Panama. Fuelled by paypal donations from readers, the first edition came out on July 14, Bastille Day. Exile fans can be reassured, at least for now: despite bitter avowals to quit Russia for good, the issue contained […]
On Friday, we discussed Russian President Medvedev's recent three nation visit to Central Asia, a visit that seemingly had one thing on its mind; gas and oil. A couple weeks ago, EU representatives made their second major stopover in a matter of months to Turkmenistan to discuss energy, specifically gas reserves for the Nabucco pipeline […]
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has made his second visit to Central Asia, this time stopping by Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan for the second time. Gas was apparently the only thing on the diplomatic menu. Medvedev and his Gazprom officials are wary of European and Chinese influence and engagement in the region's energy resources, a sphere […]
The battle for power, and political influence which begets it, is as old as human civilization. Societies and States are not usually left wanting for people who want to be ‘in charge’ or 'take power.’ However, how this is done, as in the process of acquiring and maintaining political power, depends greatly from one location […]
Today I have several stories to treat you to; some old, some new, some interesting, some bor…well you get the idea. Last March, Turkmen President Berdymukhamedov announced his country's second military doctrine. The change appears to be in accord with Turkmenistan's recent more open diplomatic and international posture, a strong departure from its recent isolationist […]
Gone are the heady heroin nights of the nineties, and with them, many of the expats who had come East to trade in the drudgery of their suburban lives for a more visceral, tragic version of humanity. Now that the country brims with the Toyota Priuses (Prii? Priux?), hipsters, libel laws, Time Out Magazine, […]
Lately there has been much talk on this blog and the FPA site about NATO and its role in Afghanistan, and rightly so, but it has just been simply too long since I have talked about the ‘other’ regional alliance with influence in Central Asia, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). The Asia Times wrote a […]
Ahmed Rashid a Pakistani journalist/author has a new book called ‘Descent into Chaos: The United States and the Failure of Nation Building in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia.’ I have not read the book yet, but here is a review by Philip Bowring and an interview with the Rashid by Radio Free Europe correspondent Abubakar […]