The story reads like a spy novel. The setting is Kyrgyzstan. The U.S. government pays billions of dollars to a mysterious American businessman known to the public only as the owner of a burger-and-beer joint. His mission: grease the right wheels in order to purchase and transport large volumes of fuel for the U.S. military. Accusations that the Kyrgyz government took kickbacks from these shady deals lead to the toppling of its leader. The Russians, as top fuel suppliers in the region, get involved, followed by the Chinese. Relations among governments grow strained. Meanwhile, dogged journalists find that the mysterious [...]
A recent visit to China by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev resulted in deals that further expanded China’s extensive energy and infrastructure investments in the Central Asian country. In an e-mail interview, Niklas Swanström — director of the Institute for Security and Development Policy and executive director of ISDP’s Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and its Silk Road Studies Program — discussed China-Kazakhstan relations. WPR: What is driving the recent expansion of China-Kazakhstan trade relations, on both sides? Niklas Swanström: The most obvious factor behind the expansion is China’s willingness and ability to invest in economies in the region, particularly in energy-rich Kazakhstan. [...]
After seven long years, the Indian government has decided that the time has come to once again make its presence felt in Iraq by naming an envoy to the country. The previous ambassador to Iraq was withdrawn in 2004 as the security situation in the country spiraled out of control. Even after the situation in Iraq had stabilized, with largely peaceful elections last year and the U.S. decision to withdraw its forces completely by the end of this year, New Delhi took its time to come to terms with the rapidly changing realities on the ground. After all, when it [...]
