Word: regionals
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...streets of the cities and towns of China's northwestern region of Xinjiang you can hear complaints from the Uighur minority group about restrictions on the Islamic religion they practice, their Turkic language or their culture, which is most closely linked to the lands of Central Asia. But in interviews in Urumqi, the regional capital that exploded with ethnic rioting last week that left 184 dead, the single most common complaint of Uighur residents is that they feel excluded from economic opportunity...
...Xinjiang, which makes up one-sixth of China's landmass but is home to less than 2% of its population, is an area of vast oil, mineral and agricultural wealth. Under a decade-old "develop the West" policy, the GDP of the region climbed from $20 billion in 2000 to $44.5 billion in 2006. Many Uighurs feel, however, that the boom has benefited majority Han Chinese, while they've been left out. "If you're Han, there are opportunities. But if you're from my group, there's nothing you can do," says a Uighur man in Urumqi who declined...
Wary of ceding influence to Europe, the Russians have stepped up efforts to maintain their traditional fighting weight in the region. They have given large loans to neighbors hit by the economic crisis and sought to strengthen regional security and economic organizations that tie their neighbors closer to Moscow. They have also taken a more hands-on approach to "frozen conflicts" in Moldova and the Caucasus to keep neighboring governments on their toes...
...Russia This Is Just A Test Russia has deployed 8,500 troops, 200 tanks and a number of artillery units to the Caucasus region near the Georgian border for a weeklong session of war games expected to be the biggest since its clash with Georgia last year. Russia admits that the exercises--which are scheduled to end on July 6, the day President Obama arrives for his first official visit to Moscow--are "quite major" but says they're simply for practice. Tbilisi is worried they presage another attack similar to last summer's skirmish over the breakaway region...
...current upheaval in Iran could provide one of the best opportunities the U.S. has to negotiate a new compact to stabilize the region. That's because the turmoil in Iran actually gives Washington new leverage over those elements in Tehran - hard-line clerics and the security chiefs - who once stood in the way of détente but who are now furiously working to legitimize Iran's government in response to a domestic political challenge. (See pictures of the turbulent aftermath of Iran's election...