The Middle Ground
Requested by my friend John Defterios to participate in a panel to discuss “the shifting story of energy security and pipeline politics”, it was a privilege to accept, more so because the location, Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, was off the normal beaten track. The “Eurasian Media Forum covered a broad range of international issues of consequence, among them viz (1) the question of power and justice in world politics (2) what next for Iraq (3) whether nuclear program is a sovereign right or a dangerous ambition? and (4) what has the invasion of Afghanistan achieved in the Great Game in the 21st century?”. The brainchild of the Chairperson Dr Dariga Nazarbayeva, the daughter of the Kazakhstan President, Nursultan Nazarbayev attracted a good selection of public figures, intellectuals and professionals from all over the world, particularly from the CIS. I am generally skeptical about “talented” children, Dr Dariga did not fit that mold. “Talented” relatives usually have “commercial” interests that border on the criminal, they almost never have intellectual pursuits.
