The Diplomat
Wednesday, May 4, 2016 - 06:23
On April 11, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament held its first hearing on the Union’s Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with Turkmenistan.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016 - 06:39
Last Friday the U.S. State Department’s spokesperson, John Kirby, began the daily press briefing with a note regarding the department’s annual designation of “countries of particular concern.” The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), an independent commission, each year makes recommendations to the State Department regarding countries that routinely violate religious freedoms.
Friday, April 15, 2016 - 07:30
It’s not a good week for Central Asian PR. Not only did Freedom House release their Nations in Transit report–in which the Central Asian countries scrape the bottom of the proverbial democracy barrel–but the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor released its 2015 country reports reviewing the human rights practices of nearly every country in the world. Central Asia, again, doesn’t come off well.
Thursday, April 14, 2016 - 06:18
While the Taliban officially launched their annual spring offensive this week pledging large-scale attacks, the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) will for the first time in 15 years be able to deploy a light attack aircraft specifically designed for counterinsurgency operations in their fight against the insurgents.
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 - 06:30
Imran Khan, chairman of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), the country’s second largest party according to the 2013 general elections, is demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, following revelations last week in the Panama Papers that the Sharif family has millions of dollars worth of offshore investments.
Friday, March 25, 2016 - 07:11
The Defense Department has taken a leading role in conducting foreign policy on its own: primarily through providing security assistance to countries around the world, sometimes contrary to State’s recommendations. This will come as no surprise to Central Asia watchers, who have sharply criticized the U.S. for providing military assistance to governments which are habitual human rights violators.
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 - 06:21
The long agony for Afghanistan’s women ended with the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Since then, thousands of women have been politically, socially, and economically active in Afghanistan in various capacities.
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 - 06:17
Tuesday, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan Nicholas Haysom briefed the UN Security Council on Afghanistan. He launched his remarks by noting that the country is “being as severely tested as it was in 2015.”
Friday, March 11, 2016 - 06:58
China has offered to expand its military aid to Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reports, following a visit to the country by a top Chinese general. Outlook Afghanistan put the total value of the proffered military aid at 480 renminibi ($73 million).
Friday, March 4, 2016 - 07:19
The good news in Afghanistan is that for the first time since 2009, the area estimated by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to be used in illicit opium poppy cultivation has decreased. But of course, it’s not that simple.