Nowruz in Karakalpakstan Brings Out the Best of a Multi-Ethnic Non-Nation
A month ago today, I was fortunate enough to accidentally have my travel plans coincide with the biggest festival…
Tag: Central Asia
The Aral Sea Disaster Has Started What Could Be the Greatest Migration Crisis of Modern Times
This is Part 2 of a two-part series looking at the Aral Sea recovery projects and the future of…
The Famous Aral Sea Disaster Is Only at Half Time
This is Part 1 of a two-part series looking at the Aral Sea recovery projects and the future of…
Karakalpaks and Being the Winner of Geopolitical Musical Chairs
The men who built the pyramids: a culture that had survived for 3,000 years—they’re all gone. ‘Egyptians’ today are…
Life Is Full of Surprises in Karakalpakstan, Central Asia’s “Sixth Stan”
Karakalpakstan is a mouthful to say, one which has to be said a bit slowly so your friends don’t…
Silk Road Romance and How a Great History Was Lost to a Warlord
Among the most romantic notions perhaps ever produced by the human race has to be the experiment in distributed…
Trade on the Medieval Silk Road Was so Rich, it Sustained High Mountain Cities, New Discovery Finds
A pair of lost cities in the highlands of Uzbekistan recently found by archaeologists using lidar demonstrate that the…
Priced at a Song, IUCN Projects Make Big Gains in Conservation of Goitered Gazelles
In a recently-compiled report for the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the world’s largest conservation organization…
“End” of Afghan War Doesn’t Mean Generals Don’t Want to Remain Engaged
AFGHANISTAN, May 11th, 2021. CENTCOM reports that between 6%-12% of the total military withdrawal in terms of equipment and…
Uzbekistan Continues to Create Protected Areas Putting it on Track to Reach 2030 Conservation Goals
The Government of Uzbekistan has committed to increase the total protected-areas coverage to 17% of its territory by 2025,…
On Feb. 10th, the New USAID Budget Got $2 Billion to Try and Eradicate Tuberculosis in Central Asia
NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan. March 14, 2020, PICTURED: USAID received its personal protective equipment (PPE) shipment in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan, as part…
Labeled the ‘Cold Winter Deserts of Central Asia’ IUCN Recommends 4 Additional World Heritage Sites
A group of spectacular mountain and desert landscapes were targeted, assessed, and recommended by the International Union for the…
Once Numbering Less Than 400, Majestic Bukhara Deer Return To The Wilds Of Kazakhstan
PICTURED: A Bukhara deer stag (cervus elaphus bactrianus) at the Cologne Zoo. Photo credit Sarefo. CC 2.0. Kazakhstan, September…