Tag Archives: Asia

Grigory Pasko: Kyrgyzstan’s Fuel Supply Politics

By Grigory Pasko | Published: February 13, 2011

A not-young Kyrgyz came up to me on Chui prospect in Bishkek and asked: “Brother, how do I get to the Alamedin market?” I didn’t know yet how to get to the market, but I did already know that in Bishkek – I’m a brother. At this time, in my Moscow, a group of young [...]

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Press Release: International Justice for Thai Impunity

By James Kimer | Published: January 31, 2011

Red Shirts Appeal to ICC over Killings of Protesters by Thai Military Compiled evidence alleges crimes against humanity by Royal Thai Army BANGKOK-TOKYO, Jan. 31, 2011 – Today lawyers acting on behalf of the Red Shirt pro-democracy movement are presenting a petition to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague requesting prosecutors to open [...]

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Barroso in Ashgabat

By James Kimer | Published: January 10, 2011

Interesting piece from EUobserver which is somewhat skeptical about Manuel Barroso’s upcoming charm visit to the capital of Turkmenistan, as the EU begins its effort to secure future natural gas exports potentially for the Nabucco pipeline.  But there’s something fishy about the article … you can’t argue that the Turkmens think a trans-Caspian route is [...]

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Robert Amsterdam Profile in the Toronto Star

By James Kimer | Published: January 8, 2011

We do beg your pardon, but today it’s time for a bit of ridiculous self-promotion.  Today the Toronto Star is running an extensive profile of Robert Amsterdam – we’re grateful for their interest, and hope you enjoy.  By Monday we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. “I don’t think any regime likes him, particularly [...]

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Turkey’s Emergence as a Regional Leader

By James Kimer | Published: January 7, 2011

Judah Grunstein has a good piece in World Politics Review arguing that Turkey, rather than Iran, comes out as the biggest winner from the Iraq war debacle.  However it is the degree to which Ankara comes into conflict with Moscow over regional issues in the Black Sea that bears more careful study. Ankara’s opposition to [...]

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The Russia-India Romance

By James Kimer | Published: January 5, 2011

We’ve given the recent Bollywood summit between Dmitry Medvedev and Mahoman Singh a bit of coverage, but here MK Bhadrakumar gets more in depth.  Despite his baroque, flowery writing style, the author provides a glimpse into the future of BRIC to BRIC relations, or as Putin is fond of describing it, multi-vector diplomacy. Shorn of [...]

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Mr. Medvedev’s Trip to Bollywood

By James Kimer | Published: December 22, 2010

Dmitry Medvedev has had an action-packed trip to Mumbai.  Accompanied by a delegation of some 100 state businessmen, the Russian president arrived in Delhi to announce his high regard for their “privileged” partnership, and urged that the two countries work hard to keep it that way. Keeping with standard practices, the trip featured an orgy [...]

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Brazil-China Trade Yet to Take Off

By James Kimer | Published: November 17, 2010

I saw this interesting article in the Financial Times earlier this week, and did not want to let it go by unmentioned.  The journalist reports from some excerpts of a new Standard & Poor’s report on trade relations and economic growth between Brazil and China, the bookends of the beloved BRIC grouping.  One expert quoted [...]

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Thailand Coughs Up its Most Valuable Prisoner

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: November 16, 2010

As Viktor Bout heads from the confines of his Bangkok cell towards the United States in a specially chartered jet, one can only wonder about what kind of improbable backroom deals were put in place to secure his extradition. On an intelligence level, Bout’s extradition is a huge catch for U.S. authorities. Sources familiar with [...]

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Great Game Redux

By James Kimer | Published: November 5, 2010

Der Spiegel breaks a big story:  Central Asia is still important.  Just because Washington has given up on the region doesn’t mean that Russia, China, and Europe are still engaged. Turkmenistan, the least populous of the five nations between the Caspian Sea and the Pamir Mountains that emerged from the former USSR, is a perfect [...]

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