Dive into the archives.
- Sacrilege against Bacon
In January 1832, British diplomat Alexander Burnes set out from India for Afghanistan to make diplomatic overtures towards the Amir of Kabul.
Going native was the watchword for Burnes, who also had skills as a keen Central Asian linguist. He shaved his head and dyed his blonde beard black, wore native dress, and did not [...]
- The Chirol Plan in Action
Two years ago, I discussed the spread of radical Islam by Saudia Arabia and proposed countering the well funded extremist influence with a more moderate and modern version of Islam, namely that of Turkey. Here’s a short version of what I said:
With countries like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan fostering and spreading radicalism through out their [...]
- The Geography of Russia Through History
And now with my latest post in the CA series on the historical borders of nations through history, I’d like to tackle the growth and recent waning of Russia’s territorial might over the last one thousand years.
Similar Posts: Ethiopia – Poland – Armenia – Persia.
NOTE: As always, these borders shifted over the years, [...]
- Turkey in 2007
With 70 million people of a variety of ethnic groups and religions, eight international borders and a growing economy, Turkey is a real up and comer in both the region and the world. Yet, smack in the center of the Balkans, Middle East and Caucasus, all notoriously violent regions, it is in a vulnerable and [...]
- PKK in Kansas Update
As as a follow up on my previous post on rumors that the PKK is moving to Nagorno-Karabagh, Jamestown has a new article on the same subject that is well worth reading.
Reviving a Forgotten Threat: The PKK in Nagorno-Karabakh
By Anar Valiyev
The decades-long war between the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Turkish army has [...]
- From Baku to Kars
The Caucasus isn’t just a region of overlapping ethnicity and religion, but one of clashing national interests. It is home to three regional conflicts and cursed by natural resources. Thus it is with great pleasure that we read some positive news from the region, namely the further development of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad.
When previously discussed, I [...]
- Helping Both Sides?
Today’s German Tagesschau hints at something (German link) I’ve also been wondering, namely, why the Turks are claiming such wild success having deal “strong blows” and stood up against terrorists when almost nobody has been killed and no proof has been given that anything of value was hit.
It is one thing for the Kurds [...]
- PKK to Kansas?
Since the founding of the Republic, Turkey’s archenemies have been those whose who harbor legitimate claims against their territory: Greeks, Armenians and Kurds. Ankara’s deepest fears always involve some conspiracy consisting of several of the aforementioned groups collaborating against them to dismantle modern Turkey.
Usually these claims are nonsense, if not utterly absurd.The plot of [...]
- Taliban Redux in Pakistan
Militants in Swat, in the northwestern frontier of Pakistan, have pulled a copy-cat of Taliban demolition of the Bamiyan Buddha in Afghanistan on the Swat Buddha:
From AsiaNews:
Despite the many requests for greater protection, the government has failed to intervene in any way to defend the 40 metre tall statue, the second only in importance to [...]
- Moslem Anti-Kemalist Turks capture Sinkiang!
The Opposite End of China has a jolly good collection of headlines pulled from the New York Times archive between March 1933, when news of a Muslim uprising in western China reached New York, and January 1934, when an independent East Turkestan was established with it’s capital in Kashgar. This should take any great [...]
