Like James Dean, Yegor Gaidar lived hard and died young. But unlike Dean, the only victim of whose reckless driving was himself, the man who privatised Russia’s economy in the 1990s took his entire young country on a deadly joyride that wrecked millions of lives. That’s no hyperbole: The Lancet has determined that the Gaidar-engineered […]
First, some Afghan surge strategy news. Lt. Gen. David Rodriquez, the day-to-day commander of US and ISAF forces in Afghanistan provided a first glimpse of the actual implementation of the new strategy involving the addition of 30,000 more troops. In regard to the deployment of the thousands of surge troops, Rodriquez stated; “It will happen […]
In order to put pressure on Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan withdraws from the power grid linking the region. Power lines from Turkmenistan deliver electricity to Tajikistan while Uzbek power supplies both Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Without steady supplies, these impoverished and mountainous countries will face severe shortages and unheated homes. Kyrgyzstan will get humanitarian assistance from […]
Manasi Kakatkar from FPA’s India blog posted a fascinating video about the Royal Gurkha Regiment fighting in Afghanistan, produced by Atlantic. The short documentary highlights the remarkable ability of the Gurkhas, who hail from Nepal, to effectively work with both their British and Afghan partners. The video has its own soundtrack too! Check it out: […]
“We are not ready to sign under the plans to cut 22-25% as part of a direct continuation of the Kyoto Protocol”, declared Russia’s environmental diplomat Oleg Shamanov. This despite the fact that Russia remains the only developed country ALREADY operating at below-1990 emissions levels, because of the post-Soviet industrial collapse. It has thus benefitted […]
Many polls have now been released showing Americans’ feelings toward our presence in Afghanistan and President Obama’s new surge plan. As I mentioned the day of the President’s West Point speech, Obama’s Afghanistan policy approval rating had dropped all the way to 35%, an alarmingly low number. I blamed some of this on the long […]
It is my sadistic joy to follow political pundits on a regular basis. Sometimes I have I have to step back from laptop as the hot air can get unbearable. Their reactions to President Obama’s Afghanistan strategy, and the speech which announced it to the nation, have been something to see, I mean, read. Pundits […]
I love the BBC to bits, but I have had enough. Yet another report, the second ‘profile’ in a week about the resurgence of Stalin’s legacy in the former USSR, has put my knickers in a twist. This time, we see a Stalin look-alike treated ‘like our own dear Queen’ in his hometown of Gori, […]
Just a quick word on the strategy laid out by Obama before getting to other firsthand observations of the speech. As I have written, I basically support the entire counterinsurgency ‘surge’ strategy, but find the inputting of an exit date, July 2011 presumably, to be potentially counterproductive (how can we not expect the Taliban to […]
“Twas the night before Obama’s Afghanistan Strategy speech and all through the internet, not a pundit was resting, all arguing that they knew what was right. The allies were briefed in hopes that more troops would soon be there. Then down came Obama to West Point with sweet words of strategy.” I offer an immediate […]
While readers were merrily gorging themselves on turkey dinners, FPA Russia Blog spent the past week hard at work: sniffing out traces of Soviet heritage in Hanoi, the capital of one of the world’s last remaining Socialist states. Indeed, most middle aged Hanoians speak at least some Russian, and many experience full-on Ostalgie for the […]
While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was in Kabul for Karzai’s inauguration, she gave two extensive interviews; one with Kim Ghattas of the BBC and other with Mujahid Jawad of Radio Azadi. The BBC interview focused on how the US was going to effectively deal with Karzai for the next few years. Here’s an excerpt […]
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