Well it looks like I didn't live up to my promise, but better late than never right? The Olympics in China have made quite a splash; in the pool, in the Caucasus's, Bush's speeches and church visit, and in the Xinjiang Province, where on Sunday a multitude of attacks occurred all over the city of […]
The European Union's ‘Strategy for a New Partnership with Central Asia‘ has now passed its 1st year of existence and therefore must immediately be judged! Here are its original stated goals and origins and here is a one year assessment by ISN's Robert M Cutler. Now the 'strategy’ is a decade long process that hopefully […]
Defense Secretary Bob Gates has announced the US support for doubling the Afghan army to 120,000 troops in the next five years, a plan initially proposed by the Afghan government. The plan will require about $20 Billion dollars, which will mostly be paid by the US, but there will be some assistance from other NATO […]
Xinjiang Shakeup Since Tuesday's terrorist attack on Chinese border patrol in Xinjiang Province's city of Kashgar, things have gotten rather tense in the region, as exile groups have claimed that China's government has sped up the detainment of suspected 'separatists and increased its presence of paramilitary forces as the Olympics draws near. The region's ethnic […]
With the Taliban showcasing great ‘tenacity‘ and ability to recruit new members from around the region to replace those lost, one must conclude that the Afghan government and its International supporters are in a fight for their lives. Hard decisions will have to made for them to win, including the eradication of the nation's poppy […]
Gulnoza Saidazimova of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty about a month ago catalogued the child labor situation in Central Asia. Unfortunately child labor is abused in all most all Central Asian states, but in different ways and to different degrees. Saidazimova first discusses Tajikistan's use of child labor as a ‘lifeline for their families’ who are […]
Yesterday, all Bush's problems seemed so far away. But now it looks as China's authoritarian government is here to stay. The Chinese are shall we say displeased about the US House of Representatives resolution requesting China to honor their IOC commitments in regard to human rights, internet blocking, and treatment of its Tibetan and Uighur […]
China, an autocratic state that directly denies the freedoms of the press, speech, religion, and assembly to its citizens, and has shown oppressive measures in dealing with its minority factions, among them Muslim Uighurs and the people of Tibet, is about to host a world event like no other, the Olympics. Now the US has […]
Last week I went over two articles from journal International Security which both discussed the deteriorating security and governance situation along the Afghan/Pakistan border. Both articles emphasized Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, as being either too weak, lacking decent effort, or of actually being a partner in some of the Taliban's insurgent efforts against NATO […]
In March of this year, Republican Presidential candidate John McCain made a major foreign policy speech at the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles. (Video and Text) In this speech, McCain proposes isolating Russia, specifically from the G-8: “We should start by ensuring that the G-8, the group of eight highly industrialized states, becomes again […]
Karin Esposito, the FPA's blogger on Religion and Politics and Project Manager for the Tajikistan Dialogue Project in Dushanbe, recently wrote about a new draft law ‘Freedom of Religious Practices and Religious Organizations’ being debated by the Kyrg government. Karin, with the help of an article by Erica Marat, discusses the reasons and possible ramifications […]
Johannes F. Linn, a former World Bank vice president for Europe and Central Asia and current Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, recently made an extended visit to the region and has written a series of assessments on key issues facing the region. Today, I would like to discuss two pieces in this series in […]
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