Nikola Krastev

Also by Nikola Krastev

• July 07, 2005

  Iraq: UN Says Kuwait War Claims Now A Bilateral Matter

  The spokesman for the UN compensation commission on Iraq says the country’s huge war debts to Kuwait are now primarily a matter of bilateral talks between the two neighbors. The panel last month approved its final claims against Iraq and will gradually phase out its work during the next 18 months. It has validated more than $52 billion of claims, the vast majority due to Kuwait. Iraqi officials view the compensation as crippling to nation-building efforts.

• July 01, 2005

  UN Says Uzbek Refugee Issue Pressing

  Uzbek refugees in Kyrgyzstan United Nations, 1 July 2005 (RFE/RL) -- The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, is under growing pressure to resettle around 450 Uzbek asylum seekers stranded in southern Kyrgyzstan.

• June 29, 2005

  Afghanistan: UN Highlights Long-Term Drug Threat

  United Nations, 29 June 2005 (RFE/RL) -- A UN report issued today warns that opium-poppy cultivation should be considered a long-term trend in Afghanistan despite efforts by the current government in Kabul to quell it. Outside observers also say there is evidence that Afghan drug money is being used to fund international terrorism.

• June 28, 2005

  Kyrgyzstan: UN Seeking To Relocate Uzbek Asylum Seekers To Third Countries

  Uzbeks at the Suzak refugee camp in Kyrgyzstan on 28 June The United Nation's refugee agency, the UNHCR, is calling for hundreds of Uzbek asylum seekers in Kyrgyzstan to be relocated to third countries as soon as possible. It says the move is necessary because the safety of the refugees cannot be guaranteed. The call comes amid mounting international concern over the forced deportation of some of the asylum seekers, who fled violence in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijon on 13 May. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he has been assured by acting Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev that Bishkek will in future strictly apply international laws regarding the more than 400 refugees.

• May 23, 2005

  Kazakhstan: Country Again Features In U.S. Efforts To Combat Corruption

  It is a crime under U.S. law for individuals or companies to bribe officials in a foreign country in order to gain a business advantage. Kazakhstan was placed in the spotlight six years ago by the emergence of the "Kazakhgate" scandal alleging that a U.S. citizen funneled millions in oil-concession fees to Kazakh officials. Now, a new investigation of leading oil-and-gas-services provider Baker Hughes serves as the latest example of authorities' increased efforts to stem corruption by U.S. companies operating overseas.

• May 09, 2005

  Kyrgyzstan: NGO Leader Says Akaev Responsible For Revolution

  Critics say ousted Kyrgyz President Askar Akaev nurtured his own political demise In an appearance 6 May at the New York law firm Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler, Edil Baisalov, the leader of Kyrgyzstan’s Coalition for Civil Society and Democracy, discussed the causes and consequences of the recent power change in the country. One of Kyrgyzstan’s best-known advocates for civil society, Baisalov traveled to Washington and New York last week to spread the message, as he says, of what really happened in Kyrgyzstan in the last six weeks.

• March 29, 2005

  Russia: Despite Risk, Foreign Investors Eager For Piece Of Energy Sector

  Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush discussed energy issues at their February summit in Bratislava. Oil production in Russia has been increasing at a spectacular rate since 2000. But growth in gas production has been relatively modest. The Russian gas industry has been waiting for two things to happen -- the introduction of pricing reform and the large-scale entry of oil companies onto the gas market. So far, neither has happened. Challenges include aging fields, ambiguous laws regarding foreign investment, and the influence of the state monopoly Gazprom on how the production and trade of gas is organized. But as a recent conference of Western investors indicated, Russia's vast gas and oil reserves continue to attract major interest.

• March 21, 2005

  Ukraine: Foreign Investors Signal Cautious Optimism

  Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko (file photo) Expectations of the new Ukrainian administration led by President Viktor Yushchenko are high. But participants in a recent global investors' conference in New York suggested that the government ushered in by the Orange Revolution must complete ambitious reforms in order to attract investment. They include reining in regional business groups, reducing government regulation, and fighting corruption.

• March 16, 2005

  East: FBI Breaks Weapons-Smuggling Ring Linked To Russia, Caucasus

  A lengthy investigation by U.S. agents has led to 17 people in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami being charged with various weapons-trafficking offenses. Armenian and South African nationals are among those arrested in connection with an alleged scheme to smuggle rocket-propelled missiles, machine guns, grenade launchers, and other Russian military weapons into the United States for sale. Prosecutors say the case raises alarm over the willingness of traffickers to sell arms to terrorists.

• February 28, 2005

  India/Pakistan: Role Of Public Sentiment In Relations Thaw Noted At Conference

  Growing sentiment for a peaceful solution to the 58-year-old Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan brought together scholars, diplomats, and peace activists at a conference in New York last week. Many are encouraged by what are seen as the most serious talks between the two countries -- India and Pakistan -- in more than 40 years to resolve their dispute over Kashmir. Participants noted that both countries are nuclear powers, have started a peace process, and are working toward normalizing relations. The challenge, they say, is to put pressure on the governments to continue their work.

• February 11, 2005

  Central Asia: New Report Warns Of Social Cost Of Region's Reliance On Cotton

  For decades, cotton production has been the main economic activity in Uzbekistan -- and, to a lesser extent, in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. But the sharp decline in world prices for raw cotton fiber is now posing a considerable economic challenge for the Central Asian states. The International Crisis Group, a nongovernmental organization focused on conflict prevention, warns in a new report that continued reliance on cotton will pose social, political, and environmental risks in the region. The report says cotton economies lead to forced labor, environmental waste, and the potential for social unrest.

• February 08, 2005

  Kazakhstan: U.S. Gets Rare Opportunity To Hear Rare Kazakh Folk Music

  Kazakh State Kurmangazy Orchestra of Folk Instruments The Kazakh State Kurmangazy Orchestra of Folk Instruments and the Kazakh State Chamber Orchestra last week gave rare performances in Washington and New York. One Kazakh official described the events as an attempt to show Americans that the Central Asian country is about more than "gas and oil." At New York City's Carnegie Hall, audiences were particularly enthusiastic about the folk program, in which skills and styles that nearly vanished during the Soviet era were on stirring display.

• December 10, 2004

  World: UN Forum Explores Ways To Fight 'Islamophobia'

  The UN is seeking a better understanding of Islam A United Nations conference this week sought to define 'Islamophobia' and to find ways to confront its consequences -- in policy-making decisions, social perceptions, and cultural interactions. The forum came six months after another UN seminar focused on confronting anti-Semitism. Both are part of a series entitled "Unlearning Intolerance." UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan opened the conference by urging the condemnation of terrorist and violent acts carried out in the name of Islam but which "no cause can justify." However, Annan also urged people not to judge all Muslims by the acts of a few extremists who target civilians.

• December 03, 2004

  U.S.: Meskhetian Families From Krasnodar Adjusting Well To Life

  Members of the extended Svonidze family A group of 84 people from Russia's stateless Meskhetian community is gradually acclimating to life in the eastern U.S. state of Pennsylvania after their arrival last summer. They are the first of thousands of Meskhetians expected to resettle in the United States through a refugee program aimed at ending the decades-long odyssey of the Meskhetians since their deportation from Georgia. Three Meskhetian families are living in the town of Lancaster, about 260 kilometers southwest of New York City. The others have settled in Philadelphia and its suburbs. They say they have been welcomed warmly by the communities and express gratitude to their American hosts, Church World Service -- a Christian charity that assists them with housing, food, clothing, and job searches.

• November 30, 2004

  Iraq: Worried By Kurdish Ambitions, Turkomans Seek Greater Recognition

  Iraqi Kurds have long sought to make the northern city Kirkuk the capital of an independent Kurdistan. It's a goal that has raised fears among the more than 3 million Turkomans living in northern Iraq. Turkomans have been a significant presence in the region for 1,000 years. But they have been largely ignored by the U.S.-led coalition and the interim government in Baghdad in the planning of Iraq's future. RFE/RL correspondent Nikola Krastev attended a recent conference at New York's Columbia University looking at the Turkomans' hopes for a democratic and multiethnic Iraq.

• November 25, 2004

  Central Asia: Political Opposition (Part 2) -- Kazakh Opposition Seeks Real Political Power

  Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev Kazakhstan's political opposition has long been an inspiration for other Central Asian opposition movements. Major Kazakh opposition groups are financially self-sufficient and less repressed than those in other Central Asian states. But now, the Kazakh opposition is hungry for real political power. Some of their leaders are known as "young wolves" -- former officials and managers under the age of 40 were brought up under President Nursultan Nazarbaev's wings. Discontent with Nazarbaev's authoritative policies and disillusioned by apparently fraudulent parliamentary elections in October, these young leaders are positioning themselves for the 2006 presidential elections. In the second of a two-part series on opposition groups in Central Asia, RFE/RL looks at Kazakhstan. Part 1 --> /featuresarticle/2004/11/4515c0cd-89d4-4b35-9584-8f4c35a567db.html looked at the Uzbek opposition movement.

• November 24, 2004

  Central Asia: Uzbek Opposition Divided, Searching For Unifying Voice

  A recent conference sponsored by Columbia University in New York City brought together representatives of various political backgrounds from Central Asia. In a panel on Uzbekistan, the participants condemned as repressive the rule of President Islam Karimov but were not able to find a strong, unifying voice. In the first of a two-part series on opposition movements in Central Asia, RFE/RL looks at prospects for change in Uzbekistan through the eyes of several prominent activists.

• November 15, 2004

  Iraq: Experts Say Saddam Hussein Trial Would Be Politically Charged, Legally Ambiguous

  Prospects for organizing a trial of former Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein are daunting due to Iraq’s continuing insurgency and plans to hold elections for a transitional government early next year. Still, a panel of experts on the region and war crimes tribunals met recently in New York to consider some of ways Saddam might be tried and to weigh the advantages and drawbacks of different scenarios. There was general agreement among the panelists that any trial of Saddam risks being highly politicized and could be used as a struggle for power among Iraq’s competing factions.

• November 12, 2004

  Afghanistan: NATO Chief Affirms Expansion Of Security Force In West Of Country

  De Hoop Scheffer (file photo) NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has affirmed that the alliance plans to expand its operations into western Afghanistan in advance of the next round of elections. Yesterday, de Hoop Scheffer told the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent policy institute, that extra NATO battalions will be committed to help safeguard parliamentary elections due to be held in the spring. There are currently about 9,000 NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, most of them in the Kabul area. De Hoop Scheffer did not say how many new forces would be committed to the country.

• November 09, 2004

  World: Top Women Correspondents Discuss Challenges, Advantages Of Covering Conflicts

  Before 1970, according to a study by the Brookings Institution, only 6 percent of war correspondents were women. By 1992, that figure had topped 30 percent. And participants say that in the past 12 years, the number of women war reporters seems to have grown even larger. A panel of accomplished female war correspondents recently gathered to share their experiences with students at the New School University in New York. They discussed the advantages that many women correspondents feel they have in reporting from conflict zones, but noted that safety for all foreign correspondents has deteriorated in recent months. Reporting from Iraq, they say, has been a particular challenge.

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