The outcome of the Afghan presidential elections appears destined to be delayed, at least in the near-term. Despite recent statements made by both candidates to the contrary, a resolution to the oft-delayed elections seems unlikely to arrive soon, as Ashraf Ghani recently declared that any “two headed government” cannot be tolerated. The negotiations for an…
Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom will begin natural gas exploration operations this month, more than a year after the Moscow-based energy giant bought out Kyrgyzstan’s national gas company Kyrgyzgas. The commencement of operations will take place several months after Gazprom obtained ownership of Kyrgyzstan’s entire natural gas infrastructure, a move that was unpopular throughout the…
In early September we had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Thomas Simons, a visiting scholar at Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies, as well as a former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and former Ambassador to Poland and Pakistan. Dr. Simons has published extensively on Eurasia and the former Soviet Union,…
An external audit of votes cast during Afghanistan’s presidential elections has finally been completed. The audit, which took into consideration an estimated 8 million suspicious ballots, took nearly seven weeks and was the source of much conflict throughout. Both leading candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, abandoned the audit the its neared its completion, albeit…
The souring of US-Russia relations continued yesterday, as U.S. President Obama, speaking at a NATO in Wales, urged NATO to train and arm the Ukrainian military to defend itself from Russia. The American president described Russian activity in Ukraine as a “brazen assault” on Ukraine, and called for members of NATO to consider the accession…
Russia’s incursion into Ukraine is ongoing, and has left no indication of slowing anytime soon. The powers that be in Moscow have recently issued statements warning NATO not to intervene in Ukraine, using thinly veiled allusions to Russian nuclear power to ensure their message was understood. Russian activity in Ukraine has begun to preoccupy other…
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has proclaimed that Russia has undertaken an incursion onto Ukrainian soil, and ordered that a draft of Ukrainian citizens be instituted as the situation in Eastern Ukraine worsens. Pro-Ukraine media sources within Russia have estimated the invading force at 15,000, although these estimates have been denied by a number of Western…
A peaceful outcome to Afghanistan’s presidential elections has grown increasingly unlikely. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, one of two principal presidential candidates, has issued a series of demands that, should they not be met, will lead to Abdullah’s Reform and Unanimity party abandoning the audit of the vote. The main complaints seem to stem from the manner…
Chinese President Xi Jinping played host to Islam Karimov, his Uzbek peer, this past week in Beijing. The meeting between the two heads of state was held in order to foment stronger ties between officials in Beijing and Tashkent alike, and culminated in the signing of substantive economic and political agreements. The two sides have…
Iran has shown every indication that it will comply with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) protocols, as stipulated in the interim nuclear deal agreed on this past November. The IAEA’s director general went as far as to say that officials in Tehran have been “useful” and lauded the Gulf state for its cooperation in every…
STEPPE DISPATCHES 