Josh is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. He is a regular contributor to Slate, US News and World Report and EurasiaNet. His articles also have appeared in The Atlantic, The Wilson Quarterly, Jane's Defence Weekly, Time, Monocle, The New Republic and The Nation. He has a blog, New World Order, at True/Slant.
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See photos from the 2007 trip across the former USSR and other travels.
There's an interesting map speculating about China's future sphere of influence at this cool map blog. It unfortunately lacks citation and any explanation or context. Why is Uzbekistan in China's orbit but not Turkmenistan? Anyway, food for thought, and something I'll get into further along on the trip.
By Joshua Kucera
Posted Monday, Oct. 4, 2004, at 7:52 AM ET
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Pakistan's nuclear-capable Shaheen II missile |
KARACHI, Pakistan—The slogan for this year's version of Pakistan's biggest arms show, IDEAS 2004, is "Arms for Peace." But despite all the heavy weapons on display, the host city, Karachi, seems markedly insecure. Exhibitors and attendees drive from the Sheraton to the expo center in armed convoys. Police with machine guns are stationed every 50 yards along the 30-minute drive. Snipers peek from the rooftops surrounding the expo center. Delegates are advised not to leave the hotel, which is where 11 French submarine engineers were killed two years ago on their way to work on subs that France and Pakistan are assembling here. Karachi is also where Daniel Pearl was kidnapped.
As delegations from a veritable Who's Who of pariah states—North Korea, Myanmar, Iran, Zimbabwe, Sudan—make the rounds, a Pakistani company shows off its new cluster bombs (which, the company press release notes, "can be used against soft targets"). A Bangladeshi delegation looks approvingly at a display of Pakistani tanks.
