Stories about Central Asia & Caucasus from December, 2006
Tajikistan: No krisha, no business!
Vadim explains that to be a business success in Tajikistan, one needs a (metaphorical) roof.
Afghanistan: The NATO Summit
Afghan Warrior discusses the recent NATO summit and how it impacts Afghanistan. Safrang has additional comment, saying that the outcome of the summit is bad news, but need not be a failure, for Afghanistan.
Kyrgyzstan: Bazaar
Tolkun Umaraliev writes about the charms of Central Asian bazaars, saying that anyone visiting the region should make visiting a bazaar their first destination.
Armenia: Parliamentary Election Monitor
Onnik Krikorian rounds up news on Armenia's 2007 parliamentary elections.
Kyrgyzstan: Renewing Attacks on Opposition
Sean Roberts looks at attacks on Kyrgyzstan's opposition since recent protests that ushered in a new constitution weakening the president's power and concludes that someone within the presidential administration and perhaps the president himself is trying to send a message to the opposition.
Turkmenistan: Reality Czech
Peter explains how the grounding of a Czech military plane carrying the country's army chief of staff and deputy defense minister by Turkmen authorities is a bad sign for regional stability and military cooperation.
Global Food Blog Report #35
#1: Yulinka Cooks shares her recipe to prepare Sauerkraut. This new food blogger cooks up Russian food, an often-overlooked food from the former Soviet republics, especially Uzbekistan, Armenia and Georgia. My sauerkraut is currently on day three of fermenting, and I’m excited to think that it could be done as...
Afghan Whispers:Marshall Plan,Drought and Herat
What Happened to Marshall Plan? Sanjar explains why a Marshall Plan for his country did not achieve its objectives. The blogger writes After the establishment of President Karzai’s government in Afghanistan there was talk of the need for implementation of a plan much like the Marshall Plan for post Second...
Mongolia: Thoughts on the Media
Shards of Mongolia has thoughts on truth in Mongolia's media.
Kyrgyzstan: Clans and Democracy
Registan.net writes about the role of clans in last month's anti-government protests and the implications of clans for democratization in Central Asia.
Kyrgyzstan: Uzbek Gas
Yulia discusses Kyrgyzstan's options for responding to Uzbekistan raising prices for natural gas.
Armenia: Rules of the Road
Zarchka reports on the transition to new traffic rules for vans that serve as public transportation that requires them to stop only at bus stops. After some chaos, she says that some sort of order has been restored, but that there have been unintended consequences.
World AIDS Day
With the inaugural theme of “Communication” in 1988, World AIDS Day was first established by UNAIDS as an annual day of awareness and outreach to confront the stigma, discrimination, and ignorance surrounding one of the world's deadliest preventable diseases. Nearly two decades, 65 million infections, and 25 million deaths later,...
Voices from Kazakhstan
Police and protesters in Almaty, at svoboda.kz “I phoned Sanzhar [Bokaev, a shortly detained leader of the movement against the ban of the right-hand-drive cars], he is in Almaty district police, which is next to Nikolski bazaar. Help him if you are a lawyer! He can answer the phone though,...
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