If you are a history lover, news junkie, or student of political science, government, international studies, international relations, international law, diplomacy, public policy, etc. then this is a blog that will catch your eye!
After the fall of the Soviet Union, there were suddenly many new countries that had nuclear arsenals. Growing concerns over “loose nukes,” terrorism, and regional instability meant that negotiations had to happen.
The result was the Lisbon Protocol, or the agreement that the nukes in Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan would either be sent back to Russia or destroyed. At the link, you can read about three U.S. FSOs who helped out with the negotiations and inspections needed to make the protocol happen.
Secretary Kerry visited the madrasahs of #Registan in the heart of #Samarkand, #Uzbekistan today, after he participated in a Ministerial Meeting with the foreign ministers of #Kazakhstan, #Kyrgyzstan, #Tajikistan, #Turkmenistan, and #Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan is in a spot of hot water over its approval of geography textbooks slated for secondary schools in the Central Asian country that show Crimea as part of Russia rather than Ukraine.
The radical group ISIS is a buzzword in Central Asia, where local governments portray it as an imminent security threat, despite the organisation’s central command rarely making reference to the ex-Soviet, majority-Muslim region.
Does the radical group look to the region for cheap manpower, physical territory, or both?
