Afghanistan and Central Asia

On May 2-4, Moscow will host a major International AIDS conference that will focus on the virus’s growth in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.  In an interview, Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS, stated that ‘HIV is increasing more rapidly in Central Asia than in any other part of the world.’  Piot blames widespread injecting-drug use and prostitution for the virus’s growing strength in the region.  The Moscow Conference will be attended by representatives from all the CA countries, and the issue HIV prevention, particularly regarding drug-use, will be ‘very high’ on the agenda.

Matthew Bryza, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, spoke out in support of Gazprom’s price hike for buying Central Asian gas and voiced his opposition to the creation of a Gas OPEC at a conference at Georgetown University.  Bryza stressed the importance of market forces in the supply of gas to Europe and argued that the extensive profits that Gazprom receives, has gone to ‘nefarious uses,’ such as organized crime and providing a ‘disincentive for reform, be it of the countries along the supply chain, or Gazprom itself.’  This last remark was a clear accusation that Russia’s control of the gas supply system has kept Central Asian states’ authoritarian and corrupt leaders in place and protected.  These are some of the first comments by a US government official I have seen concerning Russia’s recent increase in payments to CA gas producing states.

Quick one: Since transparency continues to be an issue in Central Asia and elsewhere, I found this article of interest–and it uses the U.S. as an example, but the principles are perhaps universal.  Over at How Stuff Works: how to launder money. 

Now don’t go saying I told you what to do here!  :-)  The idea is to develop the street smarts on transparency issues. 

Further Reading:
Transparency International Home
TI’s Europe and Central Asia page
The Publish What You Pay coalition, an international effort for states and corporations

Right now, there’s a wealth of events and things to do concerning Central Asia and its partners in the world: and I’m always looking for more, so send them via comment.  Most of the ones I know about are in the U.S. northeast.  If there’s an event elsewhere, on this continent or any other, I would be happy to post it: these electrons travel everywhere.

Photography:
Eurasianet is featuring three beautiful black and white photographs of Afghanistan’s people, taken by David Trilling.  These photos are part of an exhibit at Colombia University’s School of International Affairs.  “Baharistan Journal 2003-2007” will be up through November 5th.  the photos show Afghanistan’s people from the vantage of the street – dignity and vulnerability against a stark landscape.

Music:
On Sunday, November 4, the Freer + Sackler Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution is featuring new music from Chinese composers.  In case you can’t make it to the Sackler, there’s some audio samples here.  Very beautiful, yes?  Settles the soul.

Video Interview:
China’s 17th Party Congress is discussed at a video at the Brookings Institution along with a related briefing, that names the names and explains the significance.

Upcoming briefings and lectures:
For those of you whose Central Asia interest extends across the Caspian and into the Caucasus, several noteworthy events for next week–I’ll be at a bunch of them, but not all– gracious!  It’s not much notice, either, but it gives one a chance to look at various places to continue one’s learning, maybe for some other week.  You can also check these sites afterward for transcripts, videos, and proceedings in the quest for further knowledge.

The Columbia School of International Affairs (SIPA) has an all-day event on Turkey and Islam, somewhere in New York City.  Here is the contact information to RSVP.

The Woodrow Wilson Center will be discussing the U.S. and Russia in Eurasia on Monday, November 5th.  Send in your RSVP today!

The Cato Institute will be discussing Georgia’s Transformation to a Market Economy on Thursday, November 8th.  This is also an RSVP event.

Have a Great Weekend Everybody!  See you around town!

Photo: Encore Studios

In the Central Asia Beat, I referred to the Akhal-Teke horse, and then I found some video footage.  This horse show video shows a lot of the conformation, coloring, and other physical points of the breed–at its first European horse show in June of this year, in Luxembourg.  There’s no plot per se: it’s a vid for horse enthusiasts, 4 minutes. 

You can see why they are considered a national treasure: very distinctive looking horses, yes?  And now Mr. Karimov has one.

A curious mix of science, publicity, politics, engineering, and Big Bucks:  no, not a new Matrix movie.  Instead, the latest installment of business/political cooperation into the stratosphere continues to develop, a legend in the making and well worth our attention.  Yesterday, a new Russian space flight from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur, with a crew of many nations.  According to Reuters:

Inside the capsule was NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson, 47, who will take over command of the station for the next six months, flight engineer cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, 45, and Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, a 35-year-old orthopedic surgeon and part-time model from Malaysia.

Shukor’s flight is part of a commercial deal Russia cut to sell aircraft to Malaysia.

Well, now that business is fully involved, and models, there should be a new movie or two out of this, that involves models, Malaysia, various large corporations, and perhaps endangered species and/or monsters.

All those that would like to develop a plot are free to use the comment space below.  There are agents waiting to hear from you.

Luxury Trade:
Also, those that want to develop Baikonur further in order to stave off those pesky Russians from developing a new, non-Kazakh space station: we need both engineers for improved technology and more people who understand the luxury trade.  Because Malaysia’s hottest models and the US’s most interesting moguls keep turning up in Baikonur, and I’m sure they want state of the art accommodations as well as state of the art safety features.   I’m thinking anodyzed color finishes on the space suits, for one thing.  And a few accessories, such as a chiffon muffler that floats out in zero gravity.  A bridal package, with a cake stuffed in Mylar.  Stuff like that.

Seriously, though: congratulations to Malaysia and all of the crew from every state.  We wish you safety and good science.

After a long series of events featuring Portugal and the globalization/colonialization of Asia & South America, the Freer/Sackler Gallery is again turning to Rumi, the great poet, and his 800th anniversary of his birth.

On the 27th of this month in Washington DC’s great museum of Islamic and Asian art, a day-long festival of poetry and music that commemorates Rumi and his legacy will be taking place.  In particular, at noon on the 27th, a combined music and poetry presentation begins and once again salutes the world’s most popular poet.

Check this event calendar  for the 27th of October at the Sackler. . . and all the great events.  If you are in the DC area, it is well worth checking out.

Hello, faithful readers of Casual Friday, the Afghanistan Aggregator, and the Central Asia Beat.  They will all be here, only not today: Saturday or Sunday.  It takes awhile to put them together–and I am finding my way to San Jose and a course of language instruction beginning Monday.  Hasta domingo, you guys.

Have a great Weekend.  To be sure I will.

B.

This week, China and Mongolia again agreed to work together to preserve an item of common cultural heritage, known as the long-song.  Songs and rituals are known as intangible cultural heritage–unlike an archeological site or preserved document, they rely upon performance or behavior (”expressive culture”) in order to survive.

The preservation effort:
UNESCO began documenting world heritage in about 1998.  In 2003, the UN passed the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which came into force in April of 2006.  Part of the work of the Convention was to documenting folkways and arts of this nature and prove their value as part of world heritage.

In order to make its case internationally, China began to document its own list of precious cultural artifacts in earnest.  In March of 2006, Vice-Minister of Culture Zhou Heping said Chinese experts had chosen 501 examples from more than 1,300 contenders throughout the country, including crafts and festival rituals, to be entered into a State-level protection list.  Domestic protection does much to protect such heritage, but it does not allow the rest of the world to access this knowledge as readily.  China’s state support included investigation, but also social security for elders who knew these important traditions, encouraging artistic troupes, and making them part of school curriculums.  

China’s list of cultural (non-tangible) artifacts included China’s Kunqu Opera (included in 2002) and the art of guqin music (2003).  The Uighur Muqam, a genre of music from Xinjiang, was included in 2005.  The Twelve Muqam is a collection of 120 songs and interludes.  Here is a promotional video, with a little glitter added, but not too much, about 7 minutes (you need sound, but maybe a little low):

China and Mongolia also teamed up in 2005 to have Mongolian long-tune folk songs included on the list.  Mongolia and China succeeded in having the long-songs, or pastoral poems, of China and Mongolia included.   Here is a performance at the Art Institute of Chicago.  This particular performance, even by video, conveyed emotion and a sense of timelessness when I listened to it:

There is still a lot of work to be done to preserve this important heritage, suddenly made particularly ephemeral by cultural globalization.  For China and Mongolia, with a long history, a large territorial expanse, and numerous cultures, four traditions does not seem sufficient, does it?

Have a great weekend, enjoying your cultural rituals!   See you next week!

Short little entry:

I’m always thrilled when Central Asia hits the big-time.  This time, The New York Times:  and this time, it’s a five-piece slide show by photographer Carolyn Drake called “A Land at a Crossroads”.  And let me tell you that I hope it’s true.  A crossroads should mean trade, and trade is needed. 

News: Starting in September, Kyrgyzstan’s award-winning Shpilka vodka will be available in package stores in Florida, Missouri, Louisiana, and Oregon.  Shpilka means “stiletto heel”, and a marketing campaign has been envisioned that appeals to female purchasers: a bottle with flowing lines, no doubt a picture of high heels on the label, et cetera.

According to Nick Passmore at Forbes, “Vodka is not only the largest spirits category–one in every four spirits drinks consumed is vodka, according to Joanne Kletecka, Marketing Brand Director for Stolichnaya–but it’s also the fastest growing, up almost 20% over the last five years, as reported by the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. (DISCUS).”

I love this stuff:  not necessarily the vodka, I mean the globalization.  Skills learned in niche marketing here could radiate out to other great Kyrgyzstani exports. 

So if you enjoy vodka, try the Shpilka, enjoy it with moderate intake, and don’t drive or operate heavy machinery during or afterward.  Be nice to people.  Don’t step on their feet with your killer shoes.  And let us know how it was, all right?

Photo: National Gallery of Art, Australia; Zappo’s.com