Just last Thursday, Kazakhstan's thriving capitol, Astana, hosted the Shanghai Cooperation Organization's Heads of Government Council meeting. I could not find many reports about what was accomplished at the meeting besides the official statement from the group's website, which was drier than a drought in the Sahara's. The official statement reported that the group's members […]
In all the violent incidents that have plagued the people of Afghanistan in its recent history, many have died, but even more have been permanently maimed and disabled. Below is a remarkable video about some of the Afghani disabled and their struggle for rights and services: Because the New York Times, who produced this video, […]
Yesterday, I made a statement that it appeared that the Pakistani government was implicitly alright with the use of US drone predator missile attacks in their territory, as long they avoided civilian casualties. While according to statements by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry and several members of the country's ruling coalition, this is not completely true. The […]
Today I would like to go over recent developments in the conflict spanning the Afghan-Pakistan border as the conflict's many sides (NATO, Afghans, Taliban, Pakistan military, Al Qaeda, and local tribes) have all recently been in the news for various reasons: The Bush administration has authorized even greater use of missile/drone attacks inside of Pakistan, […]
Ever since the Soviet Union's collapse, the region of Central Asia, flush with newly minted states, has struggled to come up with a regional water arrangement to suit all those involved. In recent weeks, the region's governmental leaders have been working on a short-term water sharing deal, and it now appears their work has come […]
Continuing yesterday's thread, I would like to highlight one major aspect of progress in Afghanistan; the role of women in the workplace and in society as a whole. To do this I will showcase the stories of a few particular women, and unfortunately in their stories there is great suffering and too visible of signs […]
If you read most of the news and editorial pieces I posted on Monday, you probably have a negative outlook on the stability and chances for progress in Afghanistan, and for the most part, rightly so. But there are positive things going on in the country, things that before 2001 probably seemed impossible to most […]
Kyrgyzstan's capital of Bishkek, which just last week hosted a Commonwealth of Independent States CIS summit, was the site of a meeting between US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher and President Bakiyev and a following news conference. Boucher stated that the two sides discussed security and energy relations and issues. Specifically, the US sponsored […]
The ways the world's leading newspapers have covered NATO's efforts in Afghanistan and the situation on the ground there have morphed several times in recent years. After taking a backseat to the War in Iraq for nearly 4 years, the Afghan conflict came back into the mainstream about a year ago, mainly with statements that […]
How does one reconcile the governmental promotion of atheism in a society with strongly entrenched religious beliefs and customs? The Chinese communist government has tried to square this circle for years now, and the Xinjiang Province's Uighur Muslim majority has proven its greatest challenge. Edward Wong of the New York Times explores this societal conflict […]
Most of you have probably heard the reports of Christian-targeted violence in Iraq in recent weeks. Religious minorities face many uphill battles, some higher and harsher than others, in most societies. Just this last week we heard people, though on a very marginal scale, at McCain rallies shouting derogatory Muslim references toward Barack Obama. It […]
In recent weeks the Mediterranean states of Greece and Turkey have pushed to strengthen their diplomatic ties to the Central Asian region and its states. In the case of Turkey, it is the continuing of a growing relationship, and in the case of Greece, it is an attempt to reinvigorate what has in recent times […]
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