http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/31/james-giffen-an-international-mystery/ neweurasia\'s Kazakhstan blog Fri, 4 Jul 2008 13:17:52 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.3 http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/31/james-giffen-an-international-mystery/#comment-41517 Wrazwalqs Sat, 12 Jan 2008 01:47:13 +0000 http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/31/james-giffen-an-international-mystery/#comment-41517 Glavnoe horoshiy bil muzhik! Glavnoe horoshiy bil muzhik!

]]> http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/31/james-giffen-an-international-mystery/#comment-40906 kazakhstan.neweurasia.net » 2007: The year Kazakhstan struck back Wed, 19 Dec 2007 00:31:25 +0000 http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/31/james-giffen-an-international-mystery/#comment-40906 [...] and political stabilisation, the terms of the 1990s deals seemed increasingly unfavourable. Corruption scandals casted a shady light on earlier dealmaking on top of that. Apparently, some big oil companies had [...] […] and political stabilisation, the terms of the 1990s deals seemed increasingly unfavourable. Corruption scandals casted a shady light on earlier dealmaking on top of that. Apparently, some big oil companies had […]

]]> http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/31/james-giffen-an-international-mystery/#comment-15877 Strategic Analysis & OSINT Management-www.rieas.gr- » Blog Archive » Briefing of a Kazakhstan affair Thu, 01 Mar 2007 18:37:30 +0000 http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/31/james-giffen-an-international-mystery/#comment-15877 [...] The above story is a typical paradigm of “Kleptocracy” (13) a newly coined term that points out to the enormous state of corruption the modern business & political world has come into. The existence of brutal regimes all over the oil rich states is being facilitated by the ongoing corruption practices of the oil industry –regardless nationality- and the outcome quite predictably is social unrest and violence on a global scale. Dick Cheney (14) once the head of Halliburton (15) noted that “It’s not our fault that oil isn’t produced in democracies…” To that one has to point also the dependence of the Western consumer states by oil that is greatly assisted by corruption and easy-going deals between business executives and dictators over the world. In an era where the world should be moving to a fossil fuel free economy, the oil industry clings to its practices and holds governments and their respective administrations liable of political misdemeanors. It is easy to assume that large foreign investments by USA corporations would have a political back-up, which intermingles corrupted business practices with mainstream politics. The effect quite naturally is the degradation of political life and Democracy itself.  Finally the result in a global scale is quite the contrary than Cheney’s quote. It is the oil that creates dictatorships so as to facilitate agreements not acceptable in a state governed by the rule of law. On overall, the Giffen’s case reveals yet once more the hypocrisy of the international community when dealing with oppressive regimes, as well as, the influence of the colossal transnational corporations in world politics. An interesting fact for the aforementioned is the 2 billion USD that has given from the World Bank alone from 1992 to 2006 as an aid (16) to Kazakhstan. 130 million of these were handed out last year, after the exposure of the Giffen scandal, and under Paul Wolfowitz (17) a long lasting member of the “World elite”. An element of optimism at least, is the existence of Kazakhstan as a worldwide business centre, quite a different approach by the recent “Bhorat” film that surely didn’t grasp the complexity of kleptocracy, dictatorship and Swiss bank accounts, in a land that apart from rare species of wolves (18), has plenty of oil to share! References: (1) http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/?p=250 [...] […] The above story is a typical paradigm of “Kleptocracy” (13) a newly coined term that points out to the enormous state of corruption the modern business & political world has come into. The existence of brutal regimes all over the oil rich states is being facilitated by the ongoing corruption practices of the oil industry –regardless nationality- and the outcome quite predictably is social unrest and violence on a global scale. Dick Cheney (14) once the head of Halliburton (15) noted that “It’s not our fault that oil isn’t produced in democracies…” To that one has to point also the dependence of the Western consumer states by oil that is greatly assisted by corruption and easy-going deals between business executives and dictators over the world. In an era where the world should be moving to a fossil fuel free economy, the oil industry clings to its practices and holds governments and their respective administrations liable of political misdemeanors. It is easy to assume that large foreign investments by USA corporations would have a political back-up, which intermingles corrupted business practices with mainstream politics. The effect quite naturally is the degradation of political life and Democracy itself.  Finally the result in a global scale is quite the contrary than Cheney’s quote. It is the oil that creates dictatorships so as to facilitate agreements not acceptable in a state governed by the rule of law. On overall, the Giffen’s case reveals yet once more the hypocrisy of the international community when dealing with oppressive regimes, as well as, the influence of the colossal transnational corporations in world politics. An interesting fact for the aforementioned is the 2 billion USD that has given from the World Bank alone from 1992 to 2006 as an aid (16) to Kazakhstan. 130 million of these were handed out last year, after the exposure of the Giffen scandal, and under Paul Wolfowitz (17) a long lasting member of the “World elite”. An element of optimism at least, is the existence of Kazakhstan as a worldwide business centre, quite a different approach by the recent “Bhorat” film that surely didn’t grasp the complexity of kleptocracy, dictatorship and Swiss bank accounts, in a land that apart from rare species of wolves (18), has plenty of oil to share! References: (1) http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/?p=250 […]

]]> http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/31/james-giffen-an-international-mystery/#comment-12265 Global Voices Online » Blog Archive » Kazakhstan: James Giffen Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:02:44 +0000 http://kazakhstan.neweurasia.net/2007/01/31/james-giffen-an-international-mystery/#comment-12265 [...] translates a post on James Giffen, an American businessman facing trial in the United States for bribing Kazakhstan’s president, something he says that he did with the knowledge of the US government. The case has been used by [...] […] translates a post on James Giffen, an American businessman facing trial in the United States for bribing Kazakhstan’s president, something he says that he did with the knowledge of the US government. The case has been used by […]

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