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A senior defense official last month disclosed key elements of the U.S. military and allied supply routes into Afghanistan. David Sedney, assistant defense secretary for Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Afghanistan lacks rail lines and roads needed for supplying forces in Afghanistan through a new Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a system of roads used to truck in military supplies. The supply routes are the most significant strategic elements of the U.S. strategy of pacification of the Taliban and the bolstering of Afghan police and military forces.

BY 9 in the morning, the bazaar on a rocky island in the Panj River was a frenetic scene of haggling and theatrics. Afghan traders in long tunics and vests hawked teas, toiletries and rubber slippers. Turbaned fortune tellers bent over ornate Persian texts, predicting futures for the price of a dollar. Tajik women bargained over resplendent bolts of fabric. All were mingling this bright Saturday at a weekly market held throughout the year and, in one form or another, for thousands of years here in the Wakhan Valley, which divides Tajikistan and Afghanistan. “Mousetraps, mousetraps, mousetraps, oooowww!” crooned a...

Central Asia faces a broad range of security challenges. Due to the region’s position at the crossroads between Russia, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the Caspian Sea it is confronted with a range of trans-national issues such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, organised crime and terrorism. Central Asia also encounters specific regional threats including scarcity of water resources for generating power and irrigation purposes, which is currently causing tension. On a national level the five Central Asian republics face the threat of instability due to bad governance and the harsh impact of the economic crisis.

Most foreign investors have been focused on Central Asia’s vast hydrocarbon resources and the extractive industries of energy and Minerals. But water is an issue of rising concern throughout the region as after years of soviet mismanagement geopolitical tensions are running high. These regional problems present outside companies willing to think outside the box with an incredible opportunity and a guaranteed red carpet welcome. Simply put, the region’s scarce water resources were misused to satisfy the autarchic needs of the entire USSR, whose breakup in 1991 completely disrupted inter-republic trade patterns, leaving the Stans with the remnants of a centrally...

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine, Oct 26 (Reuters) - SNIPPET: "Yuri Lutsenko said the men, Ukrainian citizens from the southern Crimean peninsula, were suspected of belonging to al-Takfir wal-Hijra, which originated in Egypt and is linked with activities in North Africa. Lutsenko said explosive materials, detonators, a Kalashnikov rifle and cartridges, firearms instruction manuals, and propaganda material propagating extreme Islam were found in seven places. Pamphlets also linked the men to Hizb-ut-Tahrir, a group that has said it wants to establish a global Islamic caliphate by peaceful means and is well known in Central Asia. "A network of the extreme Islamic movement al-Takfir...

TASHKENT -- Uzbekistan is warning against a Russian plan to open a military base near the Uzbek border in southern Kyrgyzstan, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports. Uzbek Senator Surayo Odilhodjaeva told RFE/RL that the proposed new base -- reportedly near the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh -- would not contribute to the security of Central Asia. "I think the less military bases we have in the region, the better," she said. Uzbek political commentator Sanobar Shermatova said Tashkent's objection to an increased Russian military presence close to its borders is natural. "Tashkent wants to maintain a balance of power," Shermatova said....

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia was tricked by Kyrgyzstan over a deal with the United States to keep open a key air base in Central Asia, a Russian diplomat was quoted as saying by local media on Wednesday. ... The Kommersant newspaper quoted an unidentified Russian diplomat as saying Moscow viewed the U.S. move as a trick and that Russia would soon make an "adequate response" to the deal.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian state television on Friday accused the United States of using its only remaining air base in Central Asia as cover for a wide-scale spying operation. Rossiya television released a clip of a documentary to be aired on Sunday purporting to show how the United States mounted intelligence operations from the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan, which is used for supplying foreign troops in Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan in February told Washington to close the air base after it secured a $2 billion economic aid package from Russia, a setback for the United States as it seeks new supply...

This year's Miss World final in Kiev has been cancelled amid fears that Russia may turn its military might on the Ukraine. The 120 contestants were due to compete at the Ukraina National Palace on October 4. But the event has been called off and a new host country is being sought, the Daily Telegraph has learned. In a statement, the organisers said: "Due to circumstances beyond our control, it was with deep regret that the decision was taken to postpone the Miss World 2008 Final. This decision was taken in the interest of contestants and the Miss World Organisation."...

Ahmed Rashid, a Pakistani journalist of the highest narrative and analytical gifts, is baffled by the West’s almost demented indifference and folly towards Afghanistan and his own country. The stakes are huge. If either state fails, as is highly plausible, global stability will be rocked. The United Nations, Nato, the European Union and, of course, America will see their purposes and credibility set at naught. Yet, as Rashid writes: “The international community’s lukewarm commitment to Afghanistan after 9/11 has been matched only by its incompetence, incoherence and conflicting strategies — all led by the United States.” Meanwhile, in Pakistan, Washington’s...

NATO has a new and, some might say, unexpected partner in Central Asia -- Turkmenistan. Just two years ago, the country was a reclusive place that few foreigners were allowed to visit, with UN-recognized status as a "neutral" nation. The country's strongman leader, Saparmurat Niyazov, used that status as a reason to keep Turkmenistan from participating in any international groupings except those with a purely economic agenda. Niyazov died in late 2006 and was replaced by Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, whose foreign policy is much more dynamic. But reports of NATO cooperation with Turkmenistan is a huge step away from neutrality, especially...

NEW DELHI: India is gazing at Israel for a passage to energy security in the age of high oil prices, a move that will give Asia's fastest growing economy easy access to the abundant Russian, Caucasian and Central Asian crude as an alternative to volatile West Asian supplies but will perhaps also raise hackles of pro-Arab political elements at home. Top oil ministry officials and senior executives of state-owned refiners who look after crude procurement and shipping operations for their companies held talks with representatives of Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company Ltd, originally an Israel-Iran joint venture that operates a two-way crude...

Abstract Eurasianism as a concept emerged among Russian émigrés in the 1920s, with the premise that Russia is a unique ethnic blend, primarily of Slavic and Turkic peoples. Its geopolitical implications for Russia include gravitation toward mostly Turkic Central Asia. Alexander Dugin, one of its best-known proponents, believes that the demise of the Soviet Union was simply a tragic incident. The people of the former USSR should again be united in a grand Eurasian empire, with Russia a benign and generous patron, providing its “younger brothers” clients economic largesse and defense, mostly against the predatory USA. The “orange revolutions” and...

On December 27 2007, the same day as former Pakistani Prime Minsiter Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov suggested that the Shanghai Cooperaion Organization (SCO) expand its membership to include Iran and Pakistan. This new turn by Moscow cries out for explanation. Losyukov conspicously omitted Rusia’s closest Asian partner for many years, India, and supported China’s canddiate and India’s rival, Pakistan. While possibly a concession to China, which supporteds Pakistan’s membership and opposes India’s, admitting two new members might also in the long run dilute China’s weight in the organization, particularly as Russia and Iran have...

MOSCOW, March 5 (Reuters) - Uzbekistan may let the United States use a military airbase for operations in Afghanistan after evicting U.S. troops in 2005, a NATO official and diplomats said on Wednesday. Any move by Washington to tiptoe back into Uzbekistan is certain to enrage Russia, which has accused NATO of triggering a new arms race by beefing up its military presence around Russia. Once an ally in the U.S.-declared war against terrorism, Uzbekistan evicted U.S. troops from Karshi-Khanabad airbase in 2005 when the West condemned it for firing on protesters in the town of Andizhan. Robert Simmons, NATO's...

LONDON, Feb 28 (APP) :The United Kingdom has airlifted aid worth 1.5 million pounds (US $ 3 million) to support international relief efforts for the growing humanitarian crisis in the Central Asian State of Tajikistan hit by the severe wintry conditions and energy crisis. The funding will help provide essential items and services for those at risk by the severe winter temperatures and the energy crisis facing the country, the UK’s International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander said on Thursday. He said the Department for International Development (DFID) has organised two separate emergency airlifts to transport vital supplies including blankets, baby...

Kremlin seeks to strengthen clout in central Asia Feb 07 2008, 03:20 © AP Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov walk side-by-side at their Feb. 6 meeting in the Kremlin. MOSCOW (AP) – President Vladimir Putin sought to strengthen Russia’s economic and political clout in Central Asia during talks with the leader of strategically located, resource-rich Uzbekistan on Feb. 6. During his meeting with longtime President Islam Karimov, Putin worked hard to secure Moscow’s grip on natural gas supplies from Uzbekistan, a key country in the ex-Soviet region. Russia already has a monopoly on supplies from...

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, January 30 (Itar-Tass) - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko demands liquidation of the RosUkrEnergo company that supplies Russian and Central Asian natural gas to the country. She also called for the development of new transit corridors for the supply of natural gas from Central Asia to Ukraine. “The corrupt and unscrupulous shadow company RosUkrEnergo that acts as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine should be liquidated,” according to the Ukrainian prime minister. “Russia’s gas monopoly Gazprom has recently given to understand that that it could agree to the liquidation of this intermediary and would be ready for...

Yulia Tymoshenko, the Ukrainian prime minister who is keen to clean up the murky natural gas trade between her country, Russia and central Asia, on Monday said Moscow’s arrest of a reputed crime boss was a sign that the days were numbered for ”corrupt” intermediaries. Ms Tymoshenko was referring to the arrest of the 61-year old mobster Semyon Mogilevich, who has alleged links to Swiss-registered RosUkrEnergo, a company half owned by Gazprom and 50 per cent controlled by two Ukrainian businessmen. ”We don’t need any shadowy intermediaries,” Ms Tymoshenko told reporters in Brussels while on her first foreign visit after...

Homeland Security: Terrorists are increasingly looking to Europe as both a target and a staging ground for U.S. attacks. Their ticket may be the Visa Waiver Program, a major security loophole."One of the things we've become concerned about lately is the possibility of Europe becoming a platform for a threat against the United States," Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff warned. Most Europeans can come to the U.S. without visas — or background checks — under the waiver program. "That means the first time we encounter them is when they arrive in the United States," Chertoff said, "and that creates a...