January 4, 2007
Center for Defense Information
Abstract:
In the five years since the Sept. 11 attacks, the Bush administration has solidified a trend of supplying high technology weapons and millions of dollars in military assistance to allies in the "war on terror." Support for the United States - either in its quest to stamp out international terrorist networks, or for its operations in Iraq and Afghanistan - seems to take precedence over other criteria usually taken into account when the United States considers an arms transfer. According to standing tenets of U.S. arms export policy, arms transfers should not undermine long-term security and stability, weaken democratic movements, support military coups, escalate arms races, exacerbate ongoing conflicts, cause arms build-ups in unstable regions, or be used to commit human rights abuses. However, in the last five years, the Bush administration has demonstrated a willingness to provide weapons and military training to weak and failing states and countries that have been repeatedly criticized by the U.S. State Department for human rights violations, lack of democracy, and even support of terrorism. To thoroughly evaluate and analyze this trend of increased military assistance, the Challenging Conventional Threats project at CDI has, since 2001, profiled countries that have a unique role in the "war on terror," through the strategic services they have provided to the United States as it conducts anti-terror operations across the globe. The series features analysis of the current political situations in the profiled countries, taking into account other indicators of the relative stability and openness of the country, such as military expenditures, total number of armed forces, and the human rights situation as assessed by the U.S. State Department, alongside an evaluation of U.S. military assistance to these countries over the past 17 years - the post-Cold War years....
June 7, 2006
Peace Journalism
Abstract:
Poppy plant is beautiful with fresh green leaves and delicate petals in pink, red and purple hues. It is a marvelous addition as if God had leisure as well as pleasure to clip such an ornament to our beautiful planet. The landscape laden with breezy poppy crop rustling in the bright dewy morning struck human heart as any xe2x80x98wild beauty' would, in some otherwise desolate and deserted regions when a tinkering cold blue water stream meandered nearby. A shepherd sat on the top of a boulder and inspired to sing while peace and tranquility prevailed. He thus created a melody that was conjoined by an orchestra laid by the nature. His xe2x80x98sandarra' surprisingly added to the depth of nature's frivolity in enticing human soul. That was the romantic scene of yesteryears which, driven by greed and grandeur seeking ventures, particularly after the second half of the 20th Century degenerated into an instrument of social destability, crime and violence that threaten the societies as well as the sovereign states....
December 5, 2005
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
Experts on Central Asia predict incumbent president, the sixty-five year old President Nursultan Nazarbayev, to win easily a third seven-year term as leader of the former Soviet republic in the December 4 election. Among the country's 15 million people, Nazarbayev enjoys approval ratings well above 70 percent for several reasons. First, Kazakhstanxe2x80x94whose landmass is larger than Western Europe's and blessed with gas, oil, and mineralsxe2x80x94has experienced annual economic growth of 10 percent since 2001. Second, the largely secular country has avoided the ethnic conflicts, instability, and top-down authoritarianism common among neighbors like Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Third, the opposition to date has been fractured, disorganized, and unable to garner much support outside of Almaty, the country's former capital....
October 21, 2005
Uppsala University
Abstract:
Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan became a major transit
country for illicit drug trafficking originating from Afghanistan heading to Russian and
European consumption markets. In addition to this role, the country has also become
a growing consumer of heroin, as well as a significant source of cannabis cultivation
for CIS markets. According to UNODC, in 1998 an estimated minimum of 1,517 tons
of cannabis was harvested. Judging from the seizures of opiates in Kazakhstan,
heroin trafficking is on the rise. The number of drug users is also on an upward trend.
Despite the government's efforts against drug trafficking, widespread corruption
continues to be a major obstacle to effective counter-narcotics activities....
October 6, 2005
Angus Reid Consultants
Abstract:
The former Soviet Republic became independent in 1991. Since then, president Nursultan Nazarbayevxe2x80x94who first gained prominence as the area's first secretary of the Communist Partyxe2x80x94has dominated Kazakhstan's political life.
Kazakhstan 
