Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from July, 2010
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Thoughts on the ‘other’
Global Chaos makes a guest post on Armenia-Azerbaijan relations in the context of the still unresolved conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh as part of a series of entries using new and social media to bring the two sides closer together. The blog says that it is difficult...
Russia: Roadtrip to Caucasus
Popular bloggers tema [RUS], nl [RUS] and others [RUS] (9 bloggers in 3 cars) post pictures and short notes from the roadtrip to Caucasus, that started on July 15th, 2010. So far, they travelled through the North Caucasus republics and are planning to go to Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Sometime in my lifetime
Scary Azeri makes a guest post on Armenia-Azerbaijan relations in the context of the still unresolved conflict over the disputed territory of Nagorno Karabakh as part of a series of entries using new and social media to bring the two sides closer together. Noting the popularity of her own posts...
Global Lives: Revisiting the project recording people's lives
Two years ago we wrote about a project in its initial stages: Global Lives set out to record a day in the life of 10 people from all over the world. Today we revisit the project and check up on how they're coming along.
Azerbaijan: Facebook shuts down Scary Azeri?
Much to the astonishment of her many fans, Scary Azeri says that she thinks her Facebook fan page has possibly been shut down by the popular social networking site. The popular blogger, whose often unique posts have featured highly in Global Voices’ Caucasus section and who was interviewed by this...
Belarus-Georgia: Relations reawakened
LJ user sukhumi1 discusses [RUS] a thaw in relations between Belarus and Georgia after an interview with Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, was sent on Belarusian state television earlier this week.
Caucasus: Blogs and Bullets
Last week, on 8 July, a half-day conference, Blogs and Bullets: Evaluating the Impact of New Media on Conflict was held at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington D.C. Co-sponsored by George Washington University, it included panelists from the U.S. State Department, the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Facebook, eBay, and Global Voices Online.
Kazakhstan: Kazakh blogs on national issues
Lately I have often seen posts about national problems in Kazakh language blogs. I am going to review some of them. Ainash Esali in a post titled “The government should have only one flag” [KAZ] says: “An article with the title “Let’s not call for a bad omen by multiplying...
Kyrgyzstan: Inauguration of Roza Otunbayeva
Kyrgyz blogger posts a unique photo report from the historical event: the inauguration of Kyrgyzstan's Roza Otunbaeva, first female president in Central Asia, that took place July 3, 2010.
Kyrgyzstan: Young people promoting peace in the aftermath of clashes
Akylai Karimova writes about the youth campaign “Let’s plant Peace in Osh!” in Osh, Kyrgyzstan. It started on 10 July with hundreds of young men and women of various ethnicities participating voluntarily in the series of actions supported by the U.S. Embassy and UNDP.
Afghanistan: Graft and bribes are endemic
Nick Fielding reviews a new report on corruption by Integrity Watch Afghanistan. Based on interviews with 6,500 people, the survey assesses the impact of corruption, the trust in state and non-state institutions, international anti-corruption efforts and the links between corruption and insurgency.
Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan: Customising customs
The Pipeline writes about remaining unclarities about the customs’ union that Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan recently entered into.
Tajikistan: Will Russian troops return to the Afghan border?
After one of the Russian experts voiced an assumption about the possibility of Russian soldiers returning to the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan, neweurasia’s Alpharabius gets on the phone with Tajik ex-general Nuralisho Nazarov, who first proposed a Russian military withdrawal in 2004.
Kazakhstan: Bloggers’ Summer Pessimism
Summer is predominantly a dead season for the netizens around the globe. Kazakh bloggers keep on writing – providing less citizen journalism, but producing broader insights. Isabekov opines on the Kazakh national mentality feature [ru]: One of the most favorite Central Asian entertainments is called “praise a Kazakh”. The rules...
Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan: Realities of the customs union
LJ user Mestnye discusses [RUS] the recent agreement on a customs union between Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.
Azerbaijan: Imprisoned video blogging youth activists remembered
Support Adnan and Emin remembers the plight of Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli, two video blogging youth activists who were detained a year ago tomorrow in Baku, Azerbaijan. Eventually sentenced to 2 and 2.5 years in prison, Amnesty International considers the two men to be prisoners of conscience while other...
Announcing Round Two of the Technology for Transparency Network
Transparency International's 2009 Global Corruption Barometer found that citizens around the world are increasingly worried about corruption in both the public and private sectors. People are often hesitant to speak out against corruption, and see traditional complaint mechanisms as ineffective. A growing number of citizens, however, are beginning to use...
Armenia-Azerbaijan: Facebook war
Despite the potential for new and social media to bridge the information gap between Armenia and Azerbaijan, two countries locked into a bitter dispute over the territory of Nagorno Karbakakh, The Armenian Observer highlights yet another example of the arguably greater activity present in the use or manipulation of such...
Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan enter customs union
GUS-News reports [GER] that the presidents of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan today finally signed a long-awaited customs agreement.
Azerbaijan: Clinton meets bloggers
In Mutatione Fortitudo comments on U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's meeting with youth activists and bloggers in the oil-rich authoritarian country. Although reportedly raising the issue of imprisoned video blogging youth activists Adnan Hajizade and Emin Milli with the Azerbaijani authorities just days before the first anniversary of their...
Caucasus: Blogs & Bullets
Global Voices Caucasus Regional Editor Onnik Krikorian will take part in a panel at a public conference, Blogs and Bullets: Evaluating the Impact of New Media on Conflict, at the U.S. Institute of Peace on 8 July. Co-sponsored by the George Washington University Institute for Public Diplomacy and Global Communication,...
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