Russia vs. China in Kyrgyzstan

By James Kimer | Published: April 13, 2010

Perhaps NATO can spend its way into influence within the new government in Bishkek, but more and more, it seems like the leverage will play out between the Chinese and Russians, and it’s not clear if they agree on the issue of Manas.  From Richard Weitz in the Diplomat: Beijing appears not yet to have […]

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Figuring Out Roza Otunbayeva

By James Kimer | Published: April 12, 2010

How do you see the new interim leader of Krygyzstan?  An independent, accidental democrat, or a shill for the siloviki?  Blogging at Oil and Glory, Sasha Meyer points out that the usual chorus of agreement among some Russia skeptics is shattered, with some arguing that Roza Otunbayeva is a positive force for the country, while others see […]

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Backing a Dictator Always Backfires

By James Kimer | Published:

I was waiting for somebody to point this out.  Despite what the realists may say, it is ultimately not in U.S. interests to abandon values and human rights while kindly looking in the other direction in the face of conveniently oppressive dictatorships, such as Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s recently toppled Kyrgyzstani thiefdom. (Update: there’s another piece arguing […]

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Does Russia Really Want to Close Manas?

By James Kimer | Published: April 9, 2010

Surprisingly, there are still some people out there arguing that this isn’t the Kremlin’s aim in Kyrgyzstan: “The American base is not against Russia,” said Alexei Malashenko of the Carnegie Moscow Center. “Even the Russian military understands it is the place where the cooperation between Russia and the United States is the most valuable.” Kyrgyzstan […]

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Kyrgyzstan Rains on the Obama-Medvedev Parade in Prague

By James Kimer | Published: April 8, 2010

Today should in theory be a positive day in U.S.-Russia relations with the signing of the START replacement treaty in Prague, slashing 30% of each country’s nuclear arsenal establishing verification procedures.  That certainly seems to be the agreed upon script:  Barack Obama has hailed the treaty as a sign that U.S.-Russia relations are on the […]

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Quo Vadis, Kyrgyzstan?

By James Kimer | Published:

Despite the Russians being the first to recognize Kyrgyzstan’s new leadership (currently led by former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva, but that could change over the next couple days), things are still a complete mess in Bishkek following yesterday’s violent uprising.  The general message we are seeing from reports on the ground:  it’s not a revolution, […]

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The Limitations of International Human Rights Law

By Robert Amsterdam | Published: March 15, 2010

I was very intrigued by this recent post over on the Volokh Conspiracy discussing an article by Hadi Ghaemi and Aaron Rhodes of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran.  Though I am most often blogging about Russia, Europe, and even Venezuela over on my pages here, the parallels between these discussions on other […]

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Chechen Lessons for Iraq

By James Kimer | Published: March 11, 2010

The beginning of Anna Badhken’s new article in the Boston Globe comparing the Chechen and Iran conflicts is effusively naively in thinking that Russia’s problems in the Caucasus have been solved, nevertheless the discussion merits some interesting comparisons. The back history of the conflict in Chechnya — nearly 300 years of relentless opposition to the […]

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Russian Politics are Crystal Clear?

By James Kimer | Published: March 8, 2010

Writing at Time Magazine, Trita Parsi argues that Iranian politics have come to represent Churchill’s view of Russia.  I object:  since when has Russia ceased to be an enigma-wrapper mystery and bulldogs under the carpet? Iran is the 21st century equivalent of 1930s Russia — a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. The […]

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China’s Play for the Arctic

By James Kimer | Published: March 1, 2010

There’s been lots of talk about Russia’s ambitious claims for Arctic territory, future resource development, and other economic opportunities brought about by the melting ice caps (isn’t that just depressing?), but the story of Chinese interest in new shipping routes is something truly new.  Should we be surprised?  Beijing has led a pretty activist foreign […]

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