Regions

The Foreign Policy Association has posted its Great Decisions series updates for fall 2007. Please avail yourself of these wonderful resources. (Here is the South Africa update.)

The Foreign Policy Association's “Great Decisions” 2007 Fall Update on Mexico can be found here. The update includes a summary of President Calderon's first six months in office.

Providing for education is a big part of a sustained aid: providing teachers, doctors, and nurses, with the tools and means to bring knowledge and self-help to Afghanistan's citizens and to the nation as a whole.  Frequently with aid we think of supplies.  Yet knowledge is something that cannot be taken away, from the mentoring of a surgeon […]

Qatar & friendly trade: This week, Qatar's Minister of Finance and Acting Minister of Economy and Commerce Mr. Yousuf Hussein Kamal visited Tajikistan.  While in Tajikistan, he and President Rakhmon arranged a cornucopia of economic agreements.  These include setting up a council of business leaders from the Chambers of Commerce and Industry in both states, […]

Over at The Mail & Guardian the University of the Witwatersrand's Achille Mbembe wonders what Thabo Mbeki, chief architect of the “African Renaissance,” is playing at with regard to his apparent endorsement of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's galling recent comments in West Africa. At least on the issue of Pan-Africanism, Mbeki has earned the benefit […]

Peter Kagwanja, research director and senior African fellow at South Africa's Human Science Research Council and president of the Africa Policy Institute argues that SADC's mediation of the crisis in Zimbabwe “must be given a chance to breathe.” But he also believes that Zimbabwe's salvation will only come through change: [P]olitical theatre aside, the SADC […]

It's official: Kashagan oil extraction work has been shut down pending new negotiations with the consortium led by independent oil company ENI.  This is not affecting anyone's current oil supply, but it will be of interest to world stockbrokers, oil-market analysts, and Central Asia watchers.  I love this stuff, myself, so Let's Go: this is […]

According to the Mail & Guardian, SADC's plan for Zimbabwe's economic recovery is a non-starter because, well, SADC and its member nations do not have the necessary funds and the prospect of such support coming from the west in sufficient qualities is highly improbable.: The economic rescue package for Zimbabwe, touted at the Southern African […]

I found this while looking for news for the Central Asia Beat of last week, but it was well worth returning to:  accounts of torture in Naryn by the police.  The International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights works to raise awareness of human rights violations in Central Asia, improve local human rights defenders personal security […]

Short little entry: I’m always thrilled when Central Asia hits the big-time.  This time, The New York Times:  and this time, it's a five-piece slide show by photographer Carolyn Drake called “A Land at a Crossroads”.  And let me tell you that I hope it's true.  A crossroads should mean trade, and trade is needed. 

Bringing you news from the steppes and the mountains in one tidy package.  Almost everyone appears to be lying on their sofas with a cold compress after the heady weeks of SCO activities just past, so this’ll be brief. . . uh, more brief. Kazakhstan: –Another attempt to extradite Mr. Rakhat Aliev, according to Thursday's RFE/RL […]

News: Starting in September, Kyrgyzstan's award-winning Shpilka vodka will be available in package stores in Florida, Missouri, Louisiana, and Oregon.  Shpilka means “stiletto heel”, and a marketing campaign has been envisioned that appeals to female purchasers: a bottle with flowing lines, no doubt a picture of high heels on the label, et cetera. According to Nick Passmore […]