... percent of the world’s population lived in cities, in 1975 – this figure was 37.2 percent and in 2000 – 45.0 percent, while more recently, in 2009, it exceeded 50 percent. This trend is also apparent in the post-Soviet space, chiefly in Central Asia. In 1959, city-dwellers accounted for 38.5 percent of the population, whereas in 2014 this figure had risen to 47.6 percent, with the population increasing from 8.9 to 32.1 million. According to UN forecasts, by 2050 the region is to become ...
... quite reasonably would like to see Western influence diminished.
In a nutshell: U.S. technical assistance is very important, for example
in the healthcare sector
. Thanks to vaccinations and training provided by USAID, Kyrgyzstan has become the only Central Asian country to be free of the poliomyelitis outburst in 2010 and of malaria, and has also reduced infant mortality by two thirds.
USAID has provided the Kyrgyz parliament with office equipment and advisors who have assisted in compiling most ...
Held from April 27 to May 22 in New York, the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference saw Russia and China declare their ratification of the Protocol to the Treaty on a Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (CANWFZ). Barack Obama sent the Protocol to the Senate, and Great Britain and France have already done their bit. Although the debate over several CANWFZ Treaty provisions took many years, four out of five nuclear ...
... start of another mission in the country, which held presidential elections in 2014 but where the situation seems to be deteriorating ever faster. Other actors are becoming more visible and seem strong enough to shatter not only Afghanistan but also Central Asia’s inherently fragile states. At the same time, these countries and regional organizations may acquire a platform to join forces for the sake of peace and security in the aftermath of the Afghanistan war.
Recently, Russia, China and ...
... Group
analytical centre, took place from 11-14 June 2015 in Lusławice, Poland.
The discussion was devoted to problems related to Eurasian energy security and the search for new opportunities for energy cooperation between the countries of Europe, Central Asia and other rapidly growing economies, including Russia. The topics addressed included proposals from the roundtable participants on the possible principles for the operation of the future EU Energy Union and the need to use the potential of ...
...
Businesses and analysts, conversely, believe that integration with the EEU will deprive Tajikistan of independence and confuse relations with the outside world, affecting economic ties with other actors.
2. How can the EEU aid or obstruct the resolution of Central Asian economic problems?
SO
: Economic difficulties in Russia definitely have an impact on other countries' willingness to join the EEU. However, if Dushanbe opts to become a member, our economists and businessmen hope to see the influx of funds ...
Working Paper 21/2015
The working paper is devoted to the activities of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), its influence on the Central Asian region, adjacent areas and states. Its relevance derives from the national security interests of Russia and the Central Asian region, connected to the need to develop and adopt a long-term SCO Development Strategy up to 2025.
The document ...
... textbook, which raises the need to keep the memory of the war alive within the population.
On the eve of the 70-th anniversary of Victory Day, most post-Soviet countries held large celebrations culminating in the May 9 military parade in Moscow. All the Central Asian republics also hold celebratory and commemorative events, surviving Great Patriotic War participants and home-front workers receive allowances, service medals and gifts, many of them attend special meetings and concerts or travel to health ...
... proposed a trilateral currency union to coordinate currency policies during difficult times.
We met two top Kazakh analysts –
Andrey Chebotaryov
, Director of the Alternative Center for Contemporary Research, and
Danyar Kosnazarov
, Head of the Central Asian and Caspian Studies at the Kazakhstan First President Library – to ask them five questions and find out if the EEU may become attractive for other countries or generate more friction between current participants due to its unbalanced ...
... troubles: the borders with its neighbors will be sealed and trade reduced. The keynote of all these arguments is that Kyrgyzstan has a Hobson’s choice: it is better to join the EEU than to stay out of it.
A “reset” of relations among Central Asian republics would be possible after a change of political elites in all of them.
The second view is the one of society. The population’s attitude towards Kyrgyzstan's accession to the EEU is rather ambiguous. Some believe that the Union ...
