The Northern Distribution Network, an American-assembled logistical pipeline designed to ease and expand the flow of supplies to coalition forces in Afghanistan, is off to a lackluster start.
Even as a growing number of labor migrants from Central Asia and the Caucasus are returning to their homelands due to the global economic downturn, hate crimes against them are continuing unabated, independent monitors in Russia report.
Russia may soon find itself struggling to attract labor migrants. The global economic crisis is making Russia a less appealing place to work and those currently in the country are leaving for better pay and conditions in Europe, demographers say.
The countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia experienced a decline in their democratic development in 2008, according to a report issued June 30 by the American watchdog group Freedom House.
Tension is rapidly escalating along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. In response to violent Islamic militant attacks in late May, Uzbek authorities have started to fortify their frontier by building three-meter-wide trenches in some areas, according to Kyrgyz media reports. Bishkek has criticized the Uzbek action as a violation of mutual security agreements.
The Silk Road, a 2,000-year-old trade route between China and Europe, may soon be granted the same status as the pyramids thanks to a six-nation bid to get it included on UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List.
A special military force dedicated to protecting Central Asia from attack is to be created under the auspices of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), according to a report in a Russian newspaper.
The United States is proposing significant increases to its aid packages for Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan in the hopes that stabilizing those countries will enhance US efforts to defeat the Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan.
