Over at The New Republic James Kirchick (whose work, frankly, I have little use for most of the time) wonders, based on idle comments from Bulawayo's Archbishop Pius Ncube, whether Great Britain should invade Zimbabwe and remove Mugabe. While Kirchick makes some fundamentally (if somewhat obvious) decent points, I’m not certain that an invasion of […]
For those following the news lately in the U.S. at least, there has been a dearth of reporting on Afghanistan for months and maybe even years. This past week, with so much drama enacted in Washington DC over Iraq, even Iraq news from Iraq was sidelined in favor of who-voted-what and why in the air-conditioned halls of Congress. […]
IRIN has two stories about the movement of human capital in Southern Africa that reveal a region in flux. The first shows how South Africa is trying to stanch the brain drain of skilled and highly educated workers and professionals, particularly in the healthcare profession. The second reveals beleaguered white former Zimbabwean farmers who had lost […]
I wanted to go back to a previous post of last week on Kyrgyzstan's potential hydropower development, because I couldn't consider all the dilemmas in one post. One dilemma I started to set up: much of the discussion concerns what kind of capacity would be needed in order to a. serve Kyrgyzstan; b. serve Central Asia's power needs and develop energy […]
Tajikistan, in partnership with the World Bank, is soliciting investment in its cotton enterprises, and international agricultural concerns have another two weeks to submit bids for investment. The forward, signed by Sharif Rahimov, the Chairman of the State Committee for Investments and State Property Management and attached to the call for bids, is beautifully-expressed: it asserts […]
Louis E.V. Nevaer reports in the San Francisco Chronicle that American guns being smuggled into Mexico are helping fuel drug-related violence there. Mexico's military is searching southbound traffic along the border for shipments of weapons. U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez acknowledged the problem last month in Mexico saying, “We are concerned about the number of weapons coming into […]
FPA's Migration blog includes an entry of interest to those following migration issues that relate to Mexico. The posting, “A Day Without a Mexican?” can be viewed here.
Cape Town has a perception as a racist city, according to Danny Jordaan, South Africa's Local Organizing Committee CEO for the 2010 World Cup. And he believes that the city (and the country in general) will have to shed that image if the 2010 event is to be a success. As a step in that […]
I’ve been reading through poems lately, and found this one about Afghanistan. It was written by reporter Eliza Griswold, who has been a reporter in Afghanistan, Africa, and Guantanamo. She has a book out: Wideawake Field (2007), published by Farrar Straus & Giroux. Buying Rations in Kabul The Uzbek boys on Chicken Street have never had enough […]
Well, as many Central Asia watchers are aware, Uzbekistan's elections were supposed to take place this last December. Therefore, they are over six months overdue. Some vague announcements of elections this December instead were made. But, as recently noted, no election preparation seems to be forthcoming. At last, perhaps a glimmer of electioneering? Or just […]
At last According to Ferghana.ru, the bodies of the missing Nurbank managers, Mr. Joldas Timraliev and Mr. Albar Hasenov, have been found. They have been missing since January. According to the same report, DNA testing was used to verify identity. Both officials showed the marks of torture. Mr. Rakhat Aliev, former-son-in law of President Nursultan […]
It doesn't take much to tip the scales toward economic catastrophe for the people southern Africa. A poor harvest followed by a bitterly cold winter means that Swaziland is experiencing some of its worst economic conditions in recent years. Food and medical scarcities, inadequate shelter, and general economic vulnerability have created conditions for a miserable winter for South […]
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