Central Asia

The bloody war in Afghanistan has raged on for over 18 years, and there is no end in sight to this tragedy, no peaceful solution on the horizon. In 2001, US President George W. Bush used a far-fetched pretext for the military invasion of Afghanistan, and sent in 150 thousand troops, who occupied the sovereign state.

As far back as 1997, during his speech at Johns Hopkins University, the then U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott defined a number of principles that later on became widely known as the Talbott Doctrine. Without going into too much detail, the basic premise of it was as follows: “We have no business being in Central Asia, but we will not let anyone else throw their weight around there either.”

There is a classic real life murder mystery called the Wallace Case. William Herbert Wallace, an insurance clerk, was originally convicted of murdering his wife, but later acquitted on appeal after the presentation of new evidence – and though supported by his employers, he was accused by some of his neighbours.

It is a well-known fact that every large international cultural or sporting event is accounted for by not only the national prestige, but also a solid unity of the political and economic relations of the participating states. Joint holidays and sports competitions reflect the current situation in their relations, promote strengthening the ties and resolving disagreements between the peoples and their leaders; and they also become platforms for high level meetings and negotiations.