Blogging the democratic revolution
Recently, two Russia blogs we admire, Sean????????s Russia Blog and Vilhelm Konnander????????s Weblog, have leveled harsh charges of anti-democracy at Kazakhstan, charges that unfortunately tell only half that country????????s story and fail to give a fair sense of the broader geopolitical context. The charges were apparently prompted by a recent comment by U.S. President George Bush while hosting a state visit by the nation????????s leader that Kazakhstan was a ???????free country.??????? Sean and Vilhelm argue that Kazakhstan is run by a dictator who should be actively confronted, rather than supported and encouraged, by the Bush administration. To be sure, Kazakhstan…
Miss Indonesia Universe, crowned Aug. 25, 2006 Source: Reuters, via Yahoo! News! Miss Kazakhstan World 2005, Miss Kazakhstan Universe 2006 Source: Missosology Miss England World 2005 Source: Yahoo!, via My Pet Jawa Miss Afghanistan Earth 2003 Source: Wikipedia What do these girls have in common? They’re all Muslim beauty queens, showing off their hair, faces, arms, legs, and much more. Nothing remarkable about that in modern society – everyone’s got to wear a bathing suit sometimes, and no, I don’t mean this – but for perverse, repressed, bitter, dirty-minded Islamofascists, it’s something that’s utterly forbidden. The Age of Democratic Revolution…
Warm weather has finally come to Ulaanbaatar, but the spring dust storms are just beginning. First I must say that the eleven staff and instructors at SIT-Mongolia and the fourteen other students I’m studying with are all amazing. Such different people but we all get along and everyone has a new perspective to offer on all the things we’re doing and seeing. My two weeks living with a nomadic Kazakh family in the Altai Mountains of Western Mongolia were phenomenal. Apart from being sick for a day, I was elated to be breathing in the most wonderfully clean air and…
If it weren’t sketchy enough that this is the second opposition leader assassinated in Kazakhstan within the past three months, the head of the government intelligence agency has resigned. He did so because several of his officers were implicated in the murder and have confessed, or so the story goes! ALMATY, Kazakhstan ???????? Kazakhstan’s intelligence chief resigned Wednesday after several of his subordinates were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the slaying of an opposition leader. The opposition has said the Feb. 11 killing of Altynbek Sarsenbayev was politically motivated and was carried out by the special services. Nartai Dutbayev…
People are voting in presidential elections today in Kazakhstan, though the winner is a forgone conclusion. Oil-rich Kazakhstan, the most prosperous country in ex-Soviet Central Asia, voted Sunday in a presidential election widely expected to give Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has led the country for the last 16 years, another seven-year term. Amid allegations of both official and opposition misdeeds, Nazarbayev was so confident of victory over his four challengers that he scheduled a gathering with supporters at a sports complex in the capital, Astana, on Monday morning, just minutes after election officials planned to announce preliminary results. Many opinion polls…
Condoleezza Rice, during her trip to Kazakhstan, chased down President Nazarbaev after he left his podium and forced him to answer questions from reporters. She also called on the country to be a leader for democratic reforms in the region. Jim Hoft has a roundup. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stops the Kazakh leader in his tracks and gestures to reporters during their press conference in Astana, October 13, 2005. Condoleezza chased down Nazarbayev after their opening remarks. She stopped him in his tracks and brought him back to the stage to answer questions!… Not exactly the sort of…
After local and provincial officials chose new members for half of the country’s Senate, the constitutional court set in stone the date of the country’s next presidential elections. President Nazarbaev’s term runs dry in the beginning of 2006, but elections weren’t expected until December of that year — over a year from now. But the court, which is hardly independent, has set it for this December instead. Kazakhstan’s Constitutional Court has set the first Sunday of December as the date for presidential elections, ending a lengthy debate between the government and the opposition over the timing of the vote. President…
Kazakhstan is the most economically developed country in the region, yet after a series of colored revolutions in the former USSR, President Nazarbaev has begun to pay more attention to the activities of opposition groups and especially NGOs. The presidential election in 2006, therefore, is going to be an important milestone in judging the strength of Nazarbayev’s position. Nobody thought there would be a revolution in Kyrgyzstan, and neither did Akayev. Now, it seems as if President Bush has set this country in his sights for another possible success. He has written a letter to Nazerbayev urging him to take…
On July 1 I wrote about the summit between Russia and China, in which they agreed to cooperate to exert their economic and political influence in the region between them; that is, Central Asia. Here is what I said: Perhaps it isn????????t explicitly stated, but most of the concern for both countries in recent months has been in Central Asia, where we have seen an revolution in Kyrgyzstan and a massacre in Uzbekistan. This translates into increased interest by the United States in seeing liberal democracy take root, which in turn means less control by Moscow. As a huge regional…
I don’t really like making a post to just one article at a time so I’m going to just put everything for Central Asia I’ve read today here. Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has suggested that his country may hold presidential elections in 2009. Let’s all take a deep breath so that our laughs can be longer. Nathan notes conflicting accounts of one of Niyazov’s quotes appearing in different stories. Which mean exactly the opposite if ???????succession??????? and ???????continuity??????? are used in their normal senses. I won????????t hold my breath either way because for all we know he could decide tomorrow…
Nathan’s weekend edition is up, and PORA is tranforming itself into a permanent think-tank. Vladyslav Kaskiv is one of the leaders of the Pora movement, whose demonstrations ???????? often laced with biting humor ???????? became a memorable feature of those exuberant winter days. Pora drew its inspiration from pro-democracy youth movements in Serbia and Georgia that also helped topple authoritarian regimes. Kaskiv told RFE/RL he and his colleagues planned to institutionalize their experience by setting up an international center in Kyiv to offer assistance and practical advice to democracy advocates throughout the region. ???????We are now in a very active…
Nathan has got today’s update up with what’s going on there. And apparently Uzbekistan is developing a parliamentary opposition: Asliddin Rustamov, leader of the parliamentary faction of the People????????s Democratic Party, said at a press conference here on Wednesday that their faction regarded itself as the left wing of the political forces, represented in parliament, which has a different opinion on some aspects of the reforms implemented in Uzbekistan. Specifically, it believes that their social effectiveness should be improved. The faction ???????will consistently express and defend the interests of working people and of the vulnerable sections of the population. It…
Today’s — er, yesterday’s update is online. You may have noticed my nap ran a little long, so I’m not really sure what day it is yet.
Nathan has got his Valentine’s Day Edition (well, maybe not) of Election and Democracy Watch up. Check it out.
Nathan Hamm has posted his daily article on polical happenings in Russia’s “near abroad.” Democracy is on crack down.
I noticed a trackback on one of my posts by Winds of Change and followed the link. Apparently, Nathan from The Argus does a monthly roundup of all the news from the Caucasus over there. Make sure to check that out. As I have noted before, love stuff like this.
I never thought that I’d see it on Instapundit before checking my blogroll, but Nathan has some pictures of demonstrators showing orange at protests in their respective countries. Alright, back to the game. I couldn’t wait to post that, but no more for today!
Nathan has posted a roundup of news concerning Central Asia. I’m such a whore for these kinds of things.
Here’s the story. Looks like, instead of the opposition trying to create instability, it would be the government trying to disenfranchise the resistence by making accusations before any honest investigations are made. It very well could have been opposition forces, but then again, what is a political office to the government when they are seeking re-election?