The Uyghurs of western China are an ethnic Turkic people who are by tradition Muslim, and who feel more kinship with the peoples of Central Asia than with the Han Chinese -- the communist state's dominant population. After decades of Han immigration into their region, the Uyghurs are close to being a minority in their own land.
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It's been an up-and-down year for the Nabucco natural gas pipeline. Just as work on the long-stalled project seems set to finally begin, some shift -- usually at the hand of Russian energy giant Gazprom -- alters the commercial landscape and Nabucco's chances appear to recede. But the pipeline's supporters have just selected a big name in European politics to help push the project toward realization -- former German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.
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Villagers in Koshkarata, Kazakhstan, live without telephones, running water, or a local hospital. Many would like to see more assistance from local authorities, but have little hope that help will come.
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It has been 20 years since Nursultan Nazarbaev came to power in Kazakhstan, Central Asia's largest and richest country. For some, Nazarbaev is an autocrat who has suppressed freedom and democracy, for others he is a guarantor of prosperity and stability in the country.
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The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has sought to promote itself as a "rising beast in the East" and an Asian counter to NATO. But for all the experience under its belt, the SCO -- which formally gathers Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan -- is looking less formidable than usual.
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