The world is getting better, in some ways slowly, in other ways fast. What I mean by ‘better’ is a more safe and prosperous life for the average world citizen. But the world is also a very challenging place, and ripe with conflict, even in our ‘postmodern’ liberal-democracy-led 21st century. Two cases stemming from Afghanistan, […]
The latest edition of Private Eye, the finest satirical/investigative journal in the English language, is all about Russia & Georgia, with an Olympic flavour: Let's have a look, shall we? And the party-political angle:
Western retaliation against Russia for its actions in Georgia will do it more good than harm, according to the academic and actvist Boris Kagarlitsky. As Russian troops finally begin to withdraw from Georgia, the US and Nato are pondering the best punishment for its earlier invasion. The respected International Crisis group suggested that “the West […]
Good Friday, Friday Good. Today I want to take some time out and showcase some of the excellent work done by other FPA writers and bloggers that either directly or indirectly affect Central Asia, most involving the Georgia-Russia conflict. FPA contributer Marco Vicenzino has written two solid analyses of a Reassertive Russia Part I, Part […]
On July 22, just days before the Russian-Georgia conflict, US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher spoke before the OSCE Helsinki Commission regarding Kazakhstan's democratic and human rights progress before their scheduled 2010 OSCE Chairmanship. Before we get into how the US views their progress so far, it's never a bad […]
Every happy president is happy in his own way; all unhappy presidents resemble one another, by going to war to boost their approval ratings. (Medvedev approval rating courtesy of Levada Center poll, quoted in “Reiting Voennogo Vremeni”, Gazeta.ru, 20 Aug 2008).
It's that time of year again. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Annual Summit! The meeting will be held in Dushanbe, Tajikistan on August 28, and foreign ministers from all six of its member states have already concluded a meeting going over a few topics to be discussed at the larger summit. The group of ministers decided […]
Two interrelated items today for your viewing pleasure. Descent Into Chaos We have already discussed Ahmed Rashid's new book Descent into Chaos: The US and the Failure of Nation Building in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia, but in light of changing events, Musharraf's resignation (here is an editorial by Rashid about Musharraf's leaving), the worsening […]
This is the sort of thing that makes me want to eat my tie. Had the exhortations for Russia to get media-savvy become lost in translation? Having achieved its military objectives at the expense of widespread international condemnation for bullying its smaller neighbour and generally not giving a damn about public perceptions, Russia needed some […]
For the past few months, the war in Afghanistan has been seen as the ‘Right War’ by the American politicians and media. John McCain and Barack Obama both have called for greater troop strength in the conflict and have shown unwavering support in the US/NATO mission there; to defeat the insurgency/Taliban and create a viable, […]
On this page, we have constantly debated between realist and idealist foreign policies regarding the West and Central Asia. The West's liberal/democratic rhetoric and policy of democracy promotion comes in stark contrast to Russia and China's movements throughout the world, and this is easily seen in Central Asia. In this same regard, we have discussed […]
Who's got a craving for some diplomacy?! I know I do. Here are a couple items of interest. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid and four other US senators are near the end of a diplomatic trip to Germany, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan. This trip did not have quite the fan fare as Obama's recent overseas visit, […]
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