Registan.net

Over at neweurasia, James has a great post on the Luli mahalla of Osh. The mahalla numbers about 3,000 people who, James notes, did not seem particularly different from others living in Osh.
In fact, the Luli we talked to even insisted that there was nothing unique about their culture, even going so far as to […]

John Helmer, who has been covering the very strange story of Tajik aluminum company Talco for a long time (see here, and here for previous dispatches), has yet another update on the status of the case in England:
A London High Court judge warned this week that unless one of the leading figures in Tajikistan appears […]

A pair of anonymous “Middle Eastern security officials” tell CBS News that the Taliban and Al Qaeda affiliates are recruiting young boys in Central Asia. (Patrick Frost says these are US officials saying this. I’m far from convinced.)
“The effort to recruit young boys for the cause has been extended to central Asia. We have reports […]

Tajikistan’s borders are posing some serious issues, both north and south. We’ve talked about the water issues along Tajikistan’s northern border, but along the southern there is the pressing issue of drug smuggling.
Western powers worry that drugs-related corruption may undermine stability in this tiny but strategic country whose calm is key to Western efforts to […]

Mr. Foust has just below posted an entry picking on Laura King of The Los Angeles Times. Yes, the LA Times is a waste of paper and when I was last there in January I had to go to a chain bookstore to find a New York Times. Reading the entry reminded me of a […]

Please forgive me for reviewing a book that was published two years ago. But very few books are published on Tajikistan. That means you may have to go back a few years when discussing published works on Tajikistan.
The book, Tajikistan in the New Central Asia: Geopolitics, Great Power Rivalry and Radical Islam by Swedish […]

Josh has written in the past about Kiva, the website that connects with microfinance institutions, allowing users to make small loans to entrepreneurs around the world.
At this time of year, the need for loans in Tajikistan increases. Unfortunately, Kiva has seen lender interest in Tajikistan soften. There are a handful of opportunities in Tajikistan […]