U.S.-Pakistani Relations Beyond Bin Laden
The past week has been filled with announcements and speculations on how Osama bin Laden was killed and on Washington’s source of intelligence. After any operation of this sort, the world is filled with speculation on sources and methods by people who don’t know, and silence or dissembling by those who do. READ MORE
Time for Plan B
A 14-year effort to negotiate an international treaty banning the production of nuclear weapons fuel is getting nowhere. Under the terms of the United Nations’ Conference on Disarmament, all 65 participants must agree. Pakistan, which is racing to develop the world’s fifth largest arsenal, is refusing to let the talks move forward. READ MORE
Viktor Dubovitski: “Withdrawal of the US Troops and Their Allies from Afghanistan will Significantly Change the Situation in Central Asia”
Despite many unsolved problems which were planned to be solved by the introduction of the armed forces of the US and their allies from Afghanistan, a gradual withdrawal of the troops is expected to start in 2011. How will affect the withdrawal of the coalition troops the situation in the states, bordering Afghanistan? PhD in History, Deputy Director of the institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography of A. Dohish of the Academy of Science of the Republic of Tajikistan Viktor Dubovitsky shares his forecasts with the Politkom.ru readers. READ MORE
America’s War with Itself in Central Asia
In its decade-long slog to secure Afghanistan, the United States has juggled contradictory foreign policies in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, the fragile Central Asian states with key supporting roles in the war. There’s the policy of engaging the two post-Soviet states for their own sake, promoting good governance, human rights, and business ties – the usual grab-bag of US diplomacy. Then there’s the policy of using them as logistical hubs in the Afghanistan war. READ MORE
Russian Offer On Tapi Comes With Too Many Restrictions
Despite a near reversal by Russia on its opposition to the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline, Turkmenistan has decided not to cut them in on the project. READ MORE
Global Insights: Kyrgyzstan Election Benefits Regional Security
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Few would have expected it to be possible a few months ago, but Kyrgyzstan managed to hold a free, fair, and surprisingly non-violent and trouble-free parliamentary election this weekend. In an assessment widely shared by regional experts, David Trilling, writing at EurasiaNet, concluded, "Kyrgyzstan's parliamentary elections couldn't have gone better." READ MORE
Nabucco: The Pipeline That Refuses To Die
What do big Eurasian energy pipelines have in common with U.S. military projects? Once they're proposed, they refuse to die -- they assume a life of their own, and haunt us until someone finally manages to drive a stake into their heart. And by that time, the chessboard has wholly changed, forcing everyone to adjust to a new set of rules.. READ MORE
Central Asia’s Perfect Storm
Dean Acheson, US President Harry Truman’s Secretary of State, liked to quote a friend who said that being in government made him scared, but that being out of it made him worried. To those of us not privy to the hidden complexities of NATO’s military intervention in Afghanistan, the situation there – and across Central Asia -- is extremely worrisome. READ MORE
EU-Russia Partnership For Modernization Has To Include The Modernization Of Russia‘s Attitude Towards Neighbours, Lithuania‘s Foreign Minister Says
At a meeting of the European Union‘s and Russia‘s foreign ministers on 22 September in New York, Lithuania‘s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis said that Russia‘s attitude towards it’s neighbours had be modernized. Implementation of the EU-Russia Partnership for Modernization was one of the topics of this meeting. READ MORE
