Central Asia

Apparently a ‘clash’ occurred in Turkmenistan's capital of Ashgabat last Friday and Saturday in which heavy fire was exchanged, tanks and armored vehicles were used, and 20 or so Turkmen police officers were killed, who the clash involved besides Turkmen officers and what it was about is still open to debate. Turkmenistan's state media made […]

I did a quick summary of most of the major outcomes of the SCO's Dushanbe Summit on Monday, but I want to get a bit more into the affect of Russia's conflict in Georgia and all that has happened since diplomatically and strategically.  As we have read, the SCO's Dushanbe Declaration came out with a […]

Whose side is Pakistan on in the NATO-led conflict in Afghanistan?  Does the Pakistani government and army want to stop and defeat the Taliban?  Can it?  As a US decision maker, should you be extremely worried about Pakistan's answers to all of these questions?  Unfortunately, the last question is the only one that should be […]

The Shanghai Cooperation Organization 8th annual summit in Dushanbe two weeks ago covered many issues and issued several decrees.  We already discussed how the grouping did not give Russia the diplomatic support regarding the Georgian conflict as they hoped, but the conference also set up joint military manuevers, moved along the process of an Afghan […]

First off the post below was one done a few weeks ago, but we had to put it back up for so it could be linked to the Brookings Institute newsletter, my apologies for any confusion. Today, will be a glorified link-dump, focusing on Iran in Central Asia, among other topics. A. Iran In light […]

In honor of Dushanbe's hosting of tomorrow's Shanghai Cooperation Organization 2008 summit, we should discuss the current state of the nation, its struggles and prospects. To help me do this I will use another one of Johannes Linn's, executive director of the Brookings Institution's Wolfensohn Center for Development, pieces he wrote while visiting the region […]

It seems like every other post I was link dropping Johannes Linn's Brooking Institution pieces on Central Asian's energy, water, and food challenges, but today is the day, my friends, when I actually discuss them! 1. Central Asia's Energy Challenge – In Linn's ‘Central Asia's Energy Challenge; Overcoming the Natural Resource Curse‘ he reports back […]

Here in the US, we do not have many discussions about whether our nation is at war in Afghanistan.  It is basically seen as a fact.  After all, we were attacked on our homeland by terrorists from the nation who were backed by its Taliban government at the time.  Only recently, have their been discussions […]

Today I will provide several links to three or so stories which have been developing for days and sometimes weeks now in the region.  Some aspects have to do with items and themes we have covered, 'soft power’ in Afghanistan, another is an issue or event that I have barely mentioned.  Though I want discuss […]

So with one billion dollars in aid combined with a diplomatic visit by Vice President Dick Cheney, featuring many strong rebukes to Russia and a statement arguing for the nation's inclusion in NATO, the US appears to have anted up or at least called Moscow's hand in the Georgia-Russia conflict. Here are couple Cheney quotes […]

For the past year and half the US media has been dominated by the 2008 presidential election. This is in many ways a good thing as we need to know who these candidates are and what they stand for and against, but the coverage has become so saturated that we are starting to miss coverage […]

In the past few weeks we have discussed Russian relations and influence in Central Asia in the prism of the recent Georgia-Russian conflict, and for good reason, as the war sent vibrations across the geopolitical landscape, and was especially relevant to former Soviet Republics such as our CA states.  However, before the early August invasions […]