Latest posts by Ben Paarmann
Armenia: Election update
Onnik Krikorian posts the latest developments in the run-up to next year's presidential elections in Armenia. This week's news include the growing rumours that a successful ex-politician might enter the scene to compete against the ruling Republican Party.
Mongolia: Visiting the desert
Konchog Norbu posts pictures that prove that the Gobi desert is not an utterly barren and lifeless place.
Tajikistan: Getting a haircut
John Musarra retells his ordeal of trying to get a haircut in downtown Dushanbe. Tajikistan's summers are hot, dusty and difficult to cope with. The barbershop John chose, however, proved equally difficult to cope with.
Uzbekistan: Sarcastic sociologists
Jamiyat doesn't find much else than sarcasm in a recently published opinion poll that says, above all, that the president of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, is doing an astonishingly good job.
Kazakhstan: Kashagan Showdown
Bonnie Boyd has a comprehensive background post on the current crisis involving the Kazakh government and the international consortium developing the country's biggest oil field, Kashagan.
Afghanistan: No Chechens
Afghanistanica disarms the widely held belief that there are Chechen Jihadis on the ground in Afghanistan.
Tajikistan/Afghanistan: Bridging two nations
A US-funded bridge connecting Afghanistan's north with Tajikistan was officially opened last weekend. Both Mohammad Fahim Khairy and Vadim at neweurasia offer their mostly jubilant commentary.
Central Asia: Amusement parks
You kind of always wanted to visit the ubiquitous amusement parks in Central Asia and the Caucasus, but just never dared to go inside, right? Joshua Kucera takes you on a photo tour.
Central Asia: Clan-tastic
Christine Quirk looks at how clans shape political behaviour and in how far they make it difficult to enfranchise groups who might have different viewpoints or are far down on the clan power structure.
Armenia: Intra-ethnic relations
Onnik Krikorian notes that the recent fist fights between Armenian basketball teams from around the world show that divisions and animosity exists between different Armenian groups.
Turkmenistan: Prisoner amnesty
Bonnie Boyd notes that by releasing 11 prisoners who were allegedly implicated in a failed plot to kill his predecessor, the new Turkmen president Berdymukhamedov continues to move in the direction of reform.
Armenia: Bad sports organisation
Nareg on Life in Armenia is unhappy with the way a football game played during 4th Pan-Armenian Games was being organised.
Afghanistan: Western military involved in organised crime?
The editor of a satirical Afghan magazine thinks that Western troops are involved in drug trafficking and the smuggling of Afghan rugs. Is that merely satirical? Sanjar thinks there's a lot of truth in the allegations.
Afghanistan: Fear of kidnapping
Õnne Pärl says that although she has usually not been overly cautious while walking through Kabul, she is now alarmed by the frequent kidnappings of foreigners in Afghanistan.
Kyrgyzstan: Naryn
Ivar Dale takes his readers on a trip to Naryn, on which he meets characters that each tell their story of life in Kyrgyzstan's highest, coldest and poorest region.
Kyrgyzstan: Free trade effects
Ben Maritz says that the flood of cheap Chinese imports into Kyrgyzstan is at least partly responsible for the decimation of the Central Asian country's industrial base.
Tajikistan: Infrastructure development
Ian at Beyond the River says that Chinese infrastructure development in Tajikistan is more likely to win the hearts and minds of the local population.
Kyrgyzstan: Alaa-Chu
Tom Toomey tells the story of Chynara, a Kyrgyz teacher who freed her niece out of the hands of bride kidnappers.
Tajikistan: New legislation
At neweurasia, Madina lists several of the new laws and regulations that were stipulated by the Tajik government recently. Many of them are absurd and remind Madina of an 18th-century caliphate.
Central Asia: Which port to choose?
As a landlocked region, Central Asia is reliant on other countries’ maritime infrastructure to integrate with world markets. On Registan.net, Kayumars Turkistani evaluates two potential seaports, Gwadar in Pakistan and Chabahar in Iran.
Kazakhstan: Sham elections
Arthur concludes that Kazakhstan's parliamentary elections which took place this weekend were seriously flawed, both because of irregularities on voting day itself and, equally important, because of skewed media coverage of the poll's contestants. Plus: Bonnie Boyd writes a great backgrounder on the elections.
