You are currently browsing the category archive for the ‘Afghanistan’ category.
The week’s big news is the toppling of the government in Kyrgyzstan, a country whose woes have been largely overshadowed the more high-profile messes in Afghanistan and the rest of the Middle East.
As Americans scramble to catch up on their knowledge of the former Soviet state, the country’s government has been deposed; the president has fled but refused to resign; 68 people have been killed and hundreds more wounded; and the opposition party has taken power, saying it will rule the country for six months until an election can be held—all within the space of 48 hours.
Here’s a rundown of the major players:
Roza Otunbayeva: Former foreign minister now leading the opposition groups, and thought to be acting as head of state. Ms. Otunbayeva was educated in Moscow, is a member of the Social Democratic Party, and was also active in the Kyrgyzstan’s Tulip Revolution in 2005, but was subsequently shut out of government.
On this week’s events: “You can call this revolution. You can call this a people’s revolt. Either way, it is our way of saying that we want justice and democracy.”
Kurmanbek Bakiyev: Was the president of Kyrgyzstan, but has now reportedly fled south of the country where he has family ties. Even in hiding with his government in shambles and his home ransacked, Mr. Bakiyev has remained defiant and has refused to resign.
One this week’s events: “I, as the guarantor of the Constitution of Kyrgyzstan, declare that in the case of further destabilization, all the responsibility will lie with the leaders of the opposition, who will be punished according to the fullest extent of the law.”
Barack Obama: The United States does not seem to be directly involved in any way with the upheaval, and reports indicate that it is not the result of anti-American sentiment.
The unrest could deal a blow to U.S. interests, though, as America’s only air base in lies at Kyrgyzstan’s northern border. The air base was of immense strategic importance because of its proximity to Afghanistan, where the administration is ramping up its war effort and is increasingly at odds with President Hamid Karzai.
The situation is further complicated by the Russian government’s suggestion that it would push the new Kyrgyz government to close the base—a setback which could effectively negate the progress in U.S.-Russian relations made with today’s START treaty signing.
Huffington Post U.S. interests in Kyrgyzstan: “A revolution in Kyrgyzstan, with all the other headaches surrounding his AfPak strategy, was approximately the last thing Barack Obama needed. He barely kept the Manas air base open last year, increasing U.S. payments to the Kyrgyz government. Now the price will only go up, if indeed there is a deal to be made with the new government when it fully emerges. And we’ll see if the country’s new leadership will go along with a second U.S. base there, just announced in the last month, a rather hazy anti-terrorism center.”
Kyrgyzstan: The small, former-Soviet-controlled country has a war-torn past and a history of playing the pawn in bigger games. This is the latest in a series of unstable governments the country has weathered.
World Politics Review stub on the country: “As of 2009, Kyrgyzstan ranked 145 on the IMF’s list of countries by GDP, just above Kenya and a few spots below Pakistan. Though the largely agriculturally based economy is supplemented by generous mineral deposits, it is lacking in energy resources such as natural gas and petroleum, unlike its wealthy neighbor Kazakhstan to the north. Despite its empty energy coffers, Kyrgyzstan is still valuable to outsiders.”
Sources: Reuters, The New York Times, and the Hufffington Post, and World Politics Review
For more in-depth information read these excellent articles from the Atlantic:
- Kyrgyzstan as a Delayed Colored Revolution?
- More on Kyrgyzstan as a Non-Colored Revolution (which provides context to the attempted Green Revolution in Iran)
- My View From the Revolution
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Hassan Abbas
Hassan Abbas interviews Hillary Clinton on her recent trip to Pakistan. Read the exchange here
Check out former CIA officer Bob Baer’s video on Afghanistan here
Nicholas D. Kristof
Tonight, Pulitzer Prize winning New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof is addressing Network 20/20. Read his recent column on education instead of arms in Afghanistan here.
Dr. Andrew J. Bacevich
Dr. Andrew Bacevich opines on the war the U.S. cannot win in Afghanistan. Read it here.
Imtiaz Ali currently works at the U.S. Institute for Peace
Network 20/20 member Imtiaz Ali appears on a Charlie Rose roundtable with Hussain Haqqani, Joe Klein, and Steve Coll.
See it here
This heartbreaking video from Frontline World chronicles the spread of the Taliban in Pakistan. Watch it here.
Forget Iran, Iraq, and North Korea—Bush’s “Axis of Evil.” As economic calamity meets political and social turmoil, the world’s worst problems may come from countries like Somalia, Russia, and Mexico. And they’re just the beginning.
Read the rest of Niall Fergusons analysis here.
The destruction of over 100 NATO vehicles in Pakistan is an ominous development. Read about it here.
network2020.wordpress.com 