Due to spam, this guestbook has been temporarily deactivated - if you'd like to make an entry, please send it in an email to lutz(at)kleveman.com.
     Darren Spinck
 
Hello Lutz,

I just completed The New Great Game and thought it was fascinating and very insightful. While I agree with
your premise that much of the foreign policy decision-making done in Central Asia/Middle East is based on oil, I disagree that the United States is
formulating an imperialistic foreign policy.

I am going to investigate the U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union for my master's degree thesis in international commerce and policy at George Mason University, outside of Washington, DC. My thesis paper, which is still in the initial planning stages, focuses on how U.S. foreign policy in the former Soviet Union is based on realism and differs vastly from U.S. policy in the Middle East, which is based on an idealistic foreign policy. The differences in foreign policy, in my opinion, are based more on the overall war on terror, rather than on energy concerns.

Best regards,
Darren Spinck

 
14.07.2005 - 21:00


     Richard Prein
richardprein@yahoo.com
 
Dear Lutz,

I am presently reading with great interest your book entitled "The New Great Game", and have just finished the chapter "The waking giant: China". Your trip appears fasinating!

I have a particular interest in Central Asia: in 1997, I have produced for the European defence organisation named WEU a report entitled "The situation in Central Asia and the Caucasus and European security" (you can find this report on the WEU website). During that period I was the research assistant preparing the report. A parliamentary delegation has visited Azerbaidjan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and I prepared the briefing reports on these countries and its leaders for the delegation. Unfortunately, I could not join at that time the delegation for security reasons that you have well documented in your book.

The evolution of the situation you describe was very much to be expected: the regional and world powers in association with the oil multinationals taking their grip on the natural resources in disregard of the local populations and environmental issues. Following that report I have also written an article on the region for the French Institute of Higher Studies in National Defence (IHEDN) and a small article of mine has been published in TIME magazine after their publication of an edition entitled "The great caspian oil grab" in 1998. You can also find this on the internet.

Since then I have been working in the Financial sector and travelled throughout Europe for different multinationals. I have spent one year in the city of Lodz, Poland, and participated in the starting up of a new company for a big electronics multinational. I smile frequently at some of the experiences you encounter in Central Asia of which I have experienced very similar ones in Poland: there are very common features among the post communist countries and I am not sure the integration of these countries within the EU will be very beneficial to our democracies and security. But this is another debate!

Anyway, thank you to share your experience of Central Asia and hope to hear from you soon again,

Best regards,

Richard Prein


 
13.07.2005 - 15:49


     Frederic Dufour
federico66@yahoo.com
 
Mr. Kleveman,
I am currently reading your book "The New Great Game". As a Master student in International Relations I must say your book is very well written and highly convincing. The evidence is well displayed and, although I usually prefer pure politics/history monographies, I believe that your narration and the building of your book on your personal, fairly objective, experience is a must. A must-read for whoever wants to understand Central Asia and the Caucasus better. Personally, I would have liked to have four or five hundred pages more to read!

Best regards,

Frederic Dufour
Quebec City, Quebec

 
07.07.2005 - 12:39


     steve
a8f7cb832807e@yahoo.com
 
no blood for oil bitches

steve
a8f7cb832807e@yahoo.com

 
28.06.2005 - 16:08


     Rohit Gupta
rohitgupta999@yahoo.com
 
Dear Mr. Kleveman,

I just finished reading "The New Great Game" - what an excellent book! I learned a lot about parts of the world that I'm not familiar with, and about how oil and gas in the region is going to impact international politics for many years.

Thanks for such a wonderful book!

Best regards,
Rohit

 
20.06.2005 - 00:53


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