After a week of intense negotiations, Afghan parties near Bonn have neared a tentative agreement to establish a 'broad-based' government to succeed the deposed Taliban regime. Hamid Karzai, a former deputy foreign minister of a previous Afghan government, appeared set to become interim leader on December 4.
The annual fighting season in Afghanistan is coming to a close with the opposing sides deadlocked. Their inability to achieve a breakthrough deepens existing dilemmas concerning the international community's quest to foster stable government in Afghanistan.
When US President George Bush met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in bucolic Slovenia in June, something curious was underway near the Caspian Sea. The 'neutral' government of Turkmenistan struck a deal with Russia to exchange gas for Russian arms.
