In The News

The Truth About Talibanistan

Aryn Baker March 27, 2007
The tribal region of Pakistan, just over the border of Afghanistan, is increasingly becoming a sanctuary for Taliban and other extremists – a mini-state beyond the control of governments that straddle it on either side. Tough, young extremists take control of villages that lack any means of defense. Meanwhile, the US and NATO troops stationed in neighboring Afghanistan lack authority to enter...

Nationalism or Integration: A US Role for an Asian Choice?

Joergen Oerstroem Moeller March 21, 2007
In terms of trade, politics and security, Asian nations can cooperate or they can be nationalistic, working alone and creating unnecessary competition with neighbors. The nationalist route, with all its attempts to prove superiority, can provide a false sense of security for large segments of any citizenry. Asian powers such as Japan and China demonstrate both nationalistic and cooperative...

More Children Seeking Asylum in Finland

Katja Martelius March 2, 2007
Every year, hundreds of children illegally enter Finland seeking asylum – most from conflict zones likes Afghanistan, Iran or Somalia. They leave their families behind, paying as much as US$20,000 to a smuggler and traveling for months to reach their new European home. The government rejects about half of the applications for asylum, but allows a few to stay – at least for a while. The government...

Talks With Taliban Still the Best Prospect

Bronwen Maddox February 28, 2007
Afghanistan was the base for planning the 9/11 attacks on the US, and the US invaded the nation not long afterward. But more than five years later, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other extremist groups still wreak havoc throughout the country. “In the end, it will probably be necessary to deal with the Taleban or their sympathisers (if a distinction can really be made), as the Afghan and Pakistani...

Migrant Power

January 19, 2007
A new World Bank report shows that migration remains a significant force in Eastern Europe and Central Asia almost two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall. While the initial surge of migration in the 1990s was due to ethnic reconsolidation, there has been a growing movement of workers seeking economic opportunity from the region’s poorer nations. According to the report, the remittances...

Mongolia Is Roiled by Miner's Huge Plans

Patrick Barta January 4, 2007
As demand for commodities increase worldwide, Mongolians are in no hurry to approve plans for a massive mine, which according to some analysts could double the nation's gross domestic product. Looking at history, citizens of developing nations have good reason to suspect that such projects only produce troubles, with the bulk of sudden wealth going to foreign investors, all the while...

Tajikistan's Iron Man

December 26, 2006
Imomali Rahmonov has been reelected president of Tajikistan, but only after amending his nation’s constitution to allow his run for a third term. Though his margin of victory was low by the standards of the strongmen of the world – he received only 79.3 percent of the vote – the nod to democratic process cannot disguise the administration’s control over the outcome. Official observers from...