Side elements of Upheaval

by michaelhancock on 4/8/2010 · 0 comments

As others, I continue to refresh my news sources for Kyrgyz details.  While reading all I could find, I noticed that Sarah’s post was quite unique.  What struck me was how Registan can’t help but be the anti-FP blog.  To be more specific, the fact that FP has two stories that seem to see the [...]

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Let the Revolution Be Archived

by Sarah Kendzior on 4/7/2010 · 27 comments

Like many readers of Registan following the events in Kyrgyzstan, I have spent the last few hours watching a revolution online. I watched militsiya forces fire into a city street and protesters tip over a police car on YouTube; I saw a devastating photo collection of the violence and its victims on LiveJournal; and I [...]

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Rushing for Inaccuracy in Bishkek

by Alexander_Visotzky

The upheaval in Kyrgyzstan has seized the media’s attention, but it’s mostly just highlighted how little the major newspapers know about the region and how quick they are to put unsubstantiated facts up.
The NY Times immediately reported that Bakiev had fled the country, which is a bold statement considering Cliff Levy is probably reporting from [...]

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Protests, Clashes, and Arrests in Kyrgyzstan

by Nathan Hamm

Most readers of this website surely know that protesters seized the Talas administration building and took the regional governor hostage after the detention (rumored or actual isn’t clear) of opposition politician Bolot Sherniazov. Authorities shut down numerous websites and eventually cut off access to websites outside of Kyrgyzstan. Police took back the Talas administration building [...]

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Uzbekistan’s mismanaged damning of Roghun

by Mark

By now everyone has no doubt heard of the Tajik government’s infamous program of “share selling” to finance the new hydro-electric dam Roghun. The Tajik people don’t seem to harbor any illusions that they won’t see any return on their investment. “I just bought an expensive piece of toilet paper” one friend quipped. Nor do [...]

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Holy Shrunken Sea, Batman!

Thumbnail image for Holy Shrunken Sea, Batman! by michaelhancock

[Not A Real Picture]
Seriously?  The Head of the UN is shocked, SHOCKED, that the Aral has disappeared!  This is news?
For the last time, people.  This is not only an ecological problem – this is a political problem.  Unless the UN wants to repeat the idiocies of the international community of the 1990s, pouring millions of [...]

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Marjeh One Month On

by Joshua Foust

Saturday morning, I asked my twitter peers if anyone had seen a story datelined from Marja(h)(eh) the past few weeks. In his inimical way, Alex Strick van Linschoten sent me this story. Check it:
Since their offensive here in February, the Marines have flooded Marja with hundreds of thousands of dollars a week. The tactic [...]

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Basics, People

by Joshua Foust

“The first issue critical to evaluating US policy,” says William R. Polk, “is the way the Afghans govern themselves.” I agree fully. But what follows is puzzling.
About four in five Afghans live in the country’s 20,000-plus villages. During a 2,000-mile trip around the country by jeep, horseback and plane half a century ago, as well [...]

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Anecdotes of the Decline

by Nathan Hamm

The latest anecdote indicating serious economic trouble in Uzbekistan is the proliferation of black market currency trading in Samarkand. As the value of the so’m rapidly decreases against foreign currencies like the dollar and the ruble, traders are seeing quick, guaranteed profits in trading currencies.
The official exchange rate for March 30 was set as 1553 [...]

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Some Tricky Numbers

by Joshua Foust

The DEA is really pleased with itself:
Opium seizures in Afghanistan soared 924 percent last year because of better cooperation between Afghan and international forces, the top U.S. drug enforcement official said Thursday.
The Taliban largely funds its insurgency by profits from the opium trade, making it a growing target of U.S. and Afghan anti-insurgency operations. [...]

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