Central Asia Archive

A string of sectarian attacks and arrests over the last month demonstrate Pakistan’s continuing battle to eradicate Sunni-Shiite violence is far from over, despite Pakistani authorities’ repeated calls for unity and public actions against militant groups over the last six years. Observers worry that Sunni-Shiite violence across Iraq is feeding into Pakistan’s decades-long sectarian conflict, threatening the South Asian nation’s already-troubled efforts to contain militant groups. Homegrown violence only adds to Pakistan’s already significant worries over continued conflict in neighboring Afghanistan, persistent Taliban and al-Qaida presence in Pakistan, and widespread discontent with President Pervez Musharraf’s rule. “Each attack, small or […]

The first major character test for Turkmenistan’s new leadership has produced inconclusive results. While prominent environmentalist Andrey Zatoka is back at home with family and friends after a six-week judicial ordeal, Turkmen authorities sentenced him to a three-year suspended sentence for illegal arms possession in what human rights activists term a politically motivated trial. “This case is a litmus test that will determine how the new leadership will deal with political dissent and civil society,” says Erika Daily, Director of the Open Society Institute’s Turkmenistan Project. “In terms of how Zatoka was treated, this leadership proved itself no better than […]

KABUL, Afghanistan — The broken elevator at the Ministry of the Economy was not unexpected. A rolling blackout the night before had hit my downtown hotel, where taps ran dry depending on the time of day. But the blunt honesty of Minister Mohammad Jalil Shams had a sobering effect on an otherwise pleasant day in Kabul: Taliban insurgents and narcotics were this year’s bumper crops, he said, and if all goes well it will take at least a decade or two to win back public confidence eroded by a corrupt government that has failed to make good on promises of […]

THE ONCE AND (ALMOST) CURRENT KING — Afghan President Hamid Karzai took time away from his country’s growing problems earlier this week to report to parliament on King Zahir’s improving condition following his hospitalization in India on Feb 4. King who? After living in exile in Rome for 27 years, 92-year-old former King Zahir Shah returned to Kabul in 2002 following the defeat of the Taliban. But for U.S. republican sensitivities he might well have ended up as Afghanistan’s restored monarch. In the loya jirga (tribal conference) that determined Afghanistan’s political future, the idea of restoration had strong support. Older […]

WASHINGTON — “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” may have prompted Americans to run and find Kazakhstan on a map. But another recent development appears to have a growing number of Washington insiders talking seriously about political discord in the massive former Soviet republic. A rising young Kazakh politician visited Washington recently trying drum up support from U.S. policy makers and journalists for his newly established and reform-minded Kazakh political party — the official registration of which he claims is being obstructed by his country’s “draconian law on political parties.” The second largest of […]