Kazakhstan

Richard Holbrooke: US has no plans to deploy military base in Uzbekistan

The government of the United States has no plans to open a military base in Uzbekistan, Richard Holbrooke, a U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan said on Sunday in Astana. Mr. Holbrooke is taking a tour around Central Asian republics. Before coming to Kazakhstan he already visited Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan while after meetings in Astana he will give a visit to Caucasus and, specifically, Georgia.

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US exploring new routes to Afghanistan

The United States is exploring the idea of expanding the Northern Distribution Network (NDN), a supply line for US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, by adding a Chinese branch. Sources familiar with the NDN tell EurasiaNet that US officials are also considering the possibility of seeking a sea-and-land route utilizing ports in the Russian Far East.More ...

Social problems brew as labour migrants return home

A serious social problem is brewing in Uzbekistan, where hundreds of thousands of labor migrants are estimated to be returning home due to the lack of employment prospects in Russia and Kazakhstan.
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The struggle for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia

When Kazakhstan's Parliament ratified a treaty establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia earlier this month, the effort to ban nuclear weapons from the region took its final step. Throughout the Cold War, Central Asia had been the epicenter of the Soviet nuclear testing program--with the Soviet military conducting 456 nuclear tests in Kazakhstan alone. Appropriately then, the treaty was signed by representatives from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan in September 2006 at Semipalatinsk, the main Soviet test site in Kazakhstan.More ...

Nabucco Pipeline's competitors (in German)

Der russisch-ukrainische Gasstreit hat die Diskussion über Alternativen für Europas Gasversorgung neu in Gang gebracht. Nicht nur die europäischen Abnehmerländer stehen vor der Frage, wie sie eine Diversifizierung ihrer Versorgung erreichen können. Auch Russland sucht neue Exportrouten, um von Transitländern wie der Ukraine unabhängiger zu werden. Die Strategen des Staatsmonopolisten Gazprom versuchen das auf zwei Wegen: Nord Stream, die geplante Ostsee-Pipeline, soll Erdgas vom russischen Wyborg durch die Ostsee direkt ins deutsche Lubmin bei Greifswald führen. Das Projekt, an dem auch die deutschen Unternehmen BASF/Wintershall und Eon sowie die niederländische Gasunie beteiligt sind, stößt jedoch auf Widerstände bei den baltischen und skandinavischen Anrainern, die mit den Genehmigungen zögern.More ...