This is a somewhat insouciant video, 8 minutes long, put out by Vice DVD, with maybe a little too much hipness for my taste (Can't believe I’d find something too hip, but there it is). If you object to casual cursing and the sound of people whooping as they shoot machine guns, then turn down […]
Right now, there's a wealth of events and things to do concerning Central Asia and its partners in the world: and I’m always looking for more, so send them via comment. Most of the ones I know about are in the U.S. northeast. If there's an event elsewhere, on this continent or any other, I would […]
Today at the United Nations, Uzbekistan's Permanent Representative Mr. Alisher Vakhidov warned the international community not to interfere in Uzbekistani affairs under the pretext of human rights concerns. According the the RFE/RL report, Mr. Vakhidov said that international cooperation must be based upon “equality, mutual respect, social and economic development, and historical and cultural traditions.” […]
I regret that I haven't been writing recently on Afghanistan: especially since it's past time to write about trouble that aid workers are having in delivering food and services. Here are some aid statistics for the last ten months: — 34 aid workers have been killed. — Seventy-six have been abducted. –Fifty-five convoys have been attacked, by either […]
After writing on the untimely death–no, criminal assassination–of Mr. Alisher Saipov, I’m noticing the Return of a Theme: the continuing loss of a precariously-positioned free press in Central Asia. Here goes the round-up: Central Asia in General: One of the best English-language sources on Central Asia, the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) , […]
According to UPI: after a tip, Interior Ministry police set up a roadblock to catch some armed criminals. They stopped a car with three opposition party officials instead. Shots were fired and uh, apologies made. Which brings me to the politics and elections currently up in Kyrgyzstan: Cruising for trouble: Ferghana.ru translated an ITAR-Tass editorial […]
It's making the rounds of the news: the death of another journalist in Central Asia. Mr. Alisher Saipov, an ethnic Uzbek journalist who lived in Kyrgyzstan, has been killed. He was 26 years old, and he was shot three times in the head and chest. Mr. Saipov had begun to print an independent newspaper in […]
Yesterday, I went to the Center for Strategic and International Studies to hear a talk from Steve LeVine, author of The Power and the Glory, about Caspian oil and pipelines–one of my favorite topics in the world, as I wrote my Master's thesis on it. Independently related, oil prices pushed to over USD 90 per barrel yesterday […]
I have this great book written by a Japanese thinker, R.G.H. Siu, and he says the following: “Ceremony without ulterior motive is amateur theatre.” Uzbekistan is having presidential elections soon–a year past the deadline. There are six candidates and five political parties. Each of the five political parties is expected to draft a candidate for […]
Mongolia recently received its Millenium Challenge Corporation grant from the United States. There was a ceremony and press conference on October 22 with President Enkhbayar of Mongolia and President Bush of the United States at the White House. These were some of President Enkhbayar's words, which well express the MCC aims of transparency, democracy, and poverty reduction: […]
International Community News: Since The World Bank (the affectionate name for the United Nations’ International Bank for Reconstruction & Development or IBRD) is having their annual meetings this month, there's a lot of development news out there. Central Asian governments who want to access the Bank's programs need to know what priorities the Bank is currently […]
Several times this year I have mentioned the burden that non-collection/non-publication of public health statistics places on neighbor states attempting to wrestle with epidemics. This is true for Central Asia in terms of at least two issues: HIV and Avian H5N1. Both Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have been working through big problems with medical care and […]
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