There are a number of organizations which are accepting monetary and material donations to aid the hundreds of thousands of Uzbeks affected by the violence in southern Kyrgyzstan. I have listed several of them below, and I hope Registan readers will add their own information in the comments section or by contacting the editor of [...]

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On Sunday I lay in bed and watched an Uzbek man be burned alive. The video starts with a fire in the center of a crowd. At first it is not even clear that the fire is a human being. As the Uzbek man thrashes and screams, the crowd laughs and applauds, shouting insults [...]

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Naheed Mustafa is a Canadian freelance broadcast and print journalist. She’s currently on a reporting trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan and will be posting dispatches from her trip.
ISLAMABAD – In 2008, just before my first trip to Afghanistan, I spoke to a fixer who came highly recommended. He promised me all kinds of adventures: “Madame, [...]

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Kyrgyzstan and the Media

by Nathan Hamm

Here at Registan.net, we tend to give a lot of crap to western media for poor coverage of Central Asia. So, it only seems fair that we at least sometimes give the media credit for a job well done. Perhaps I have low standards, but I’ve seen what seems like a surprising number of stories [...]

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Formula for Success in Afghanistan

by Christian Bleuer

The Washington Post is reporting that the US military and the State Department are all aflutter after the locals in Gizab – no, not that Gizab, the other one – thrashed the Taliban with just a tad of help from the good guys. Actually, I can’t call “us” that because the locals that whacked the [...]

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Forums

by Nathan Hamm

After six-plus years, I’ve finally gotten around to creating a message board. So, if you’ve got something to say that takes more than the 5,000 characters our comments section allows or have any topic you’d like to discuss, go visit the forum, sign up for an account, and get posting!
Feedback is welcome!

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Unconscionable Story

by michaelhancock

Ted Rall is really not a person who should be discussed on this blog, but I can’t let this story go unpunished.  If you’ve read the tripe he calls Central Asian analysis in Silk Road to Ruin*, you probably already know what’s coming.  I’m going to do my best to tear it limb from limb. [...]

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Tranquil in Bishkek? Just Wait a Week

by Myles Smith

With hundreds dead in southern Kyrgyzstan, demonstrating yet again the tenuous hold of the Interim Government over those regions, those of us in Bishkek are now wondering what is in store for the capital itself.
The killing seems to have lost momentum for the time being. Security forces are reaching beyond Jalalabad and Osh to smaller [...]

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The Broken End of the Circle

by Myles Smith

Editor’s note: This post was originally supposed to run 13 June, but got lost in the drafts folder.
Many citizens of Kyrgyzstan have begun venting their anger at the Interim Government, calling it to task for alleged inaction in quelling the inter-ethnic violence in the country’s south over the past 86 hours. Posts on the popular [...]

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Temporary Refugees?

by michaelhancock

Questions:
How long are the Uzbeks of Southern Kyrgyzstan going to remain in Uzbekistan or elsewhere outside their homes? Will they all return once the rebuilding process is under way? Will some remain indefinitely in Uzbekistan with friends or relatives?
Assumptions:
They won’t stay any longer than they have to, because the life of a refugee [...]

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Why Didn’t We See It Coming?

by Sarah Kendzior

It has been a week since riots broke out in southern Kyrgyzstan, and, contrary to the claims of the New York Times, scholars of the region are no closer to achieving consensus on the cause of the violence than before. This is a good thing. It is irresponsible to draw definitive conclusions as to the [...]

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