Ben Paarmann

I hold an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge and have grown fond of Central Asia over the last couple of years. Which is why founded neweurasia, a blog network about the five former Soviet countries of the region. Mostly irrelevant ramblings can be found on my personal blog.

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Latest posts by Ben Paarmann

Kyrgyzstan: A Nation Is Grieving for Chingiz Aitmatov

Ben Paarmann writes in honor of Kyrgyzstan author Chingiz Aitmatov who died on Tuesday this week, at the age of 79. "Thanks to Chingiz Aitmatov, Central Asian traditions, lifestyles, myths - but most importantly - a transcendental Central Asian "feeling" became part of Soviet culture, known and celebrated beyond the borders of the former empire." writes Paarmann.

15 June 2008

Afghanistan: CNN Youtube debate

Afghanistanica is unhappy that out of the 1,400 questions collected for the presidential CNN-Youtube debate, only two deal with Afghanistan. He asks his readers to help him change this dismal...

4 September 2007

Uzbekistan: Arsenal shareholder

Craig Murray is willing to testify in front of the Premier League to block a rich Uzbek investor from buying himself into Arsenal FC. Meanwhile, Jamiyat says that the children...

4 September 2007

Uzbekistan: Samarkand anniversary

Central Asian Borders writes about the former Silk Road capital Samarkand's 2750th anniversary. Uzbek president Karimov came on a visit, and his entourage made sure that every major street was...

4 September 2007

Kazakhstan: Political soap opera

KZBlog has the latest developments in Kazakhstan's political soap opera, including new rumours why president Nazarbayev rushed to change key personnel and the fate of his son-in-law.

4 September 2007

Armenia: World Bank corruption update

Onnik Krikorian finds it scandalous that the World Bank's own watchdog “Department of Institutional Integrity” has not yet sent an investigation commission to Armenia following serious allegations of corruption in...

4 September 2007

Armenia: School year starts

Observer reports of the new academic year starting in Armenia. There are less children starting school each year, but there are still traffic jams around schools because of proud parents...

4 September 2007

Azerbaijan: Building collapse

Having lived and worked in Azerbaijan, Carpetblogger is not surprised by the news that a newly-built highrise collapsed in the capital Baku due to poor building standards.

30 August 2007

Kyrgyzstan: Labour migration

Scraps of Moscow links to an IWPR article about the impact of labour migration on the healthcare system in Kyrgyzstan, and finds many similarities to problems elsewhere in the developing...

30 August 2007

Azerbaijan: Radical islam

Christine Quirk received a reader's comment to one of her earlier posts (GV reported) about the imaginary threat of radical political Islam in Azerbaijan. The commentator is a well-known Azeri...

30 August 2007

Georgia: UFO in Abkhazia

At Steady State, rindi is amused about conflicting reports of a mysterious object falling from the sky in the breakaway province of Abkhazia. Was it a Russian or a Georgian...

30 August 2007

Afghanistan: Hostage deal

Although 11 hostages still remain in the hands of their kidnappers, Carl Robichaud speculates why the Taliban agreed to release the Korean missionary workers who have been held hostage for...

30 August 2007

Mongolia: Kazakh eagle hunters

American filmmaker Joseph Spaid tells readers about his film Kiran over Mongolia over at neweurasia. The documentary portrays a young Mongolized Kazakh youth from the urban capital who is taken...

29 August 2007

Afghanistan: Releasing the hostages

Although the Korean hostages are likely to come free after more than a month in custody in Afghanistan, OneFreeKorea is unhappy with the deal struck with the Taliban. In the...

29 August 2007

Afghanistan: Replacing a minister

From Afghanistan, Sanjar reports that he and his colleagues have launched a petition demanding the removal of the current Minister for Information and Culture. Rumours have it that a successor...

28 August 2007