An epic sci-fi tale set in the 22nd century on fictional planet Pandora and its alien Navi civilisation wins the hearts of millions of fans. Then, 40 years later, James Cameron makes Avatar. That’s right, this week Russian newspapers were rife with allegations that Cameron stole the idea for his blockbuster film from a series […]
Radio Liberty, apparently. Yesterday, the first of their three part series exploring the middle class across the former Soviet bloc was dedicated specifically to ‘what it means to be middle class’. Yet without ever defining the slippery concept of middle class itself, Charles Recknagel concludes that, unlike their supposedly heroically liberal and democratic Western counterparts, […]
On December 14th, in Samandepe in eastern Turkmenistan, the starting point of the Central Asia-China gas pipeline, the President of China opened the valve that will send natural gas from Turkmenistan through Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan to China. This is the first major gas pipeline that will be an alternative to Russian pipelines. 40 billion cubic […]
Good news for President Karzai, the Afghan army, and US/NATO fighting forces in Afghanistan can be found in a poll commissioned by the BBC, ABC News and Germany’s ARD. 1500 Afghans from 34 provinces showed a surprising 70% affirmative that their country was headed in the right direction, a full 40% jump from last year. […]
Mommy, where do Putins come from? Some liberal analysts have suggested that he was parachuted into Russian politics by a sort of malevolent stork. More critical ones have insisted instead that he was asexually spawned by Yeltsin in his own image. Yet in the latest edition of the London Review of Books, Neal Ascherson reviews […]
Though it has yet to be confirmed, it appears Swedish diplomat Staffan di Mistura will replace Kai Eide as the top UN official in Afghanistan. Mistura has recently worked for the UN’s World Food Programme and as an official in Iraq. He served as director of fundraising and external relations for the U.N.’s office in […]
This week was the Russian Orthodox Christmas. Twenty years after Communism and somewhat at odds with the newfound Christian ardour of Russia’s elites, it’s not a big stand alone holiday, falling relatively quietly in the middle of the 10 day vacation starting with the big Soviet milestone of New Year’s. Yet at the same time, […]
ForeignPolicy.com has a fantastic slideshow of Afghanistan: 2009. I recommend checking out the entire collection, but here are some of my favorites: All these dramatic photos are amazing, but this one I found earlier this year is still my favorite: _
A former intelligence official called it a “high-level asset meeting gone bad.” Bad is definitely an understatement. Of course the comment is in reference to the suicide attack which killed 7 CIA agents at Forward Operating Base Chapman in border province of Khost. They were “experienced frontline officers and their knowledge and expertise will be […]
Tis the season for giving….and contributing to victory in Afghanistan?! Thanks to groups like Spirit of America we all have the opportunity to do both. Jim Hake, Spirit of America’s founder, implores all ‘ordinary’ citizens to help our soldiers in Afghanistan by helping the Afghan people. His group and many others have donated tons of […]
Overview: Kyrgyzstan played the US and Russia for a whole lot of money (Suez Crisis all over again?). There were scuffles between border guards over the Ferghana Valley borders. Nabucco is still on paper while a pipeline between China and Kazakhstan opened. Kazakhstan heads the OSCE while Kyrgyzstan kills or harasses those it considers enemies […]
Do we really need to do a recap regarding Afghanistan for 2009? I mean, what really happened? The only story that I can recall is an American soldier wearing pink boxers. Overview: Welllllll, I guess there was more to 2009 in Afghanistan than that. Cue ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire‘: “Food scarcity, Drone attacks, marital […]
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