The Times of Central Asia has the story, but since you need a subscription and they aren’t cheap, I’ll link to the freebie version here.
This comes as just another step towards normal usage of gas and oil as political tools. The idea that some resources or elements of infrastructure could or should be sacrosanct might not be universal, but it is certainly appealing to those freezing in cold, denied citizens of Ukraine and Tajikistan, not to mention previous victims in Iran and further down the pipeline last January.
Sorry for the lack of blogging recently. Grad school has been keeping me busy, and the holiday was a time to close the laptop for a while. There’s a paper I’ll be presenting soon on Lake Balkhash, and I’d be happy to blog it or share it later.
Happy New Year! S novom godom i s prazdnikom! Yangi yil bilan tabriklayman! Zhangy zhyl qutty bolsin! Prospero anno nuevo! And I don’t even speak Spanish!
This post was written by...
Michael Hancock-Parmer – author of 153 posts on Registan.net.
Michael earned an MA in Central Eurasian Studies in 2011 and remains a student at Indiana University pursuing a dual PhD in Russian History and Central Eurasian Studies. He served 6 months in the Peace Corps in Uzbekistan in 2005. After the events in Andijan and the subsequent closure of the program, he served 2 years in southern Kazakhstan, returning to the Midwest in 2007. His general area of interest is on post-Timur Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, centered on the Syr Darya river valley.
{ 4 comments }
I didn’t check the Times of CA story, but the one that’s linked here doesn’t seem to include some important backstory–Uzbekistan is trying to double the price for this year.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKLM60596920081222.
Basically they want the same rate that Russia is trying to get out of Ukraine. I agree the whole thing is very ugly, especially given how bad the winter was last year.
Isn’t that nice of the Uzbek government? This is one of my stated reasons for not wanting to do fieldwork in Tajikistan during the winter: the Uzbek government will probably turn off the heat at some point. Sucks for visiting westerners, disastrous for locals.
Happy New Year to you too!
I am waiting for your paper on Balkhash. It has been so long since I left the region and am very curious what is going on.
Happy new year too Michael.
I always enjoy your posts, especially whenever Joshua’s get too intense for me
Hope to read more from you this year.