At least three aspects of life intertwine when discussing recent Uzbekistani news: these would be: a. elections, which are scheduled but we aren't hearing anything new; b. a lack of human rights, media freedoms, and whether or not the West's sanction regime is working; and c. life for Uzbekistanis, which right now seems to be […]
Yesterday and today, President of Turkmenistan Mr. Berdymukhamedov is in the home of the European Union, receiving what RFE/RL calls a “cautiously upbeat welcome“. Due to the uh, recently traditional privacy attendant to Turkmenistani activities, there will be no press conference afterward. This actually works out for the EU as well, since they are still waiting […]
In some ways, it's always better to think in terms of interlocking regions rather than states–and with Central Asia as a nexus of interlocked regions, it's most important. Right now, Pakistan is –depending on one's point of view–in more upheaval, or– determined to clamp down on upheaval for once and all. For Central Asia watchers, […]
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 […]
Popular from Press
