Global Voices Online

Social Science in the Caucasus, the blog of the Caucasus Resource Research Centers, looks at the the subjective well-being of citizens living in all three South Caucasus republics. Although the data used for the survey is from 2006, the survey finds that the impact of poverty and unemployment is more significant than in other former Soviet countries such as Ukraine and Russia.

Recent Links also in Central Asia & Caucasus

Musafirbek says that the president of Uzbekistan officially thanked the cotton-growers for gathering the harvest of this strategic product for Uzbekistan. However, those who sweat away, collecting this cotton (including children) were not mentioned in the president’s address.

Alexander Visotzky writes about the opening of a monument in Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, where the authorities uncovered a 15-foot high bronze statue of incumbent president Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Dafydd reports that the EU has lifted the arms embargo on Uzbekistan. Reasons given are abolishment of the death penalty and release of political prisoners.