The long shot in Central Asia

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:59:00 +0000

Betting on democratization in Kyrgyzstan may seem a fool's errand. What chance is there for competitive politics in a poor, remote country that in recent months has experienced the overthrow of a president, an abortive restorationist coup and a massive outbreak of interethnic violence? Against all odds, Kyrgyzstan has thus far confounded the skeptics. In late June, it conducted a successful constitutional referendum, and on Sunday the citizens of Kyrgyzstan gave their verdict in a hotly contested parliamentary campaign, which was widely recognized as the fairest election in the history of Central Asia. In President Obama's words, the people of Kyrgyzstan "demonstrated by their participation in [Sunday's] historic election that they are committed to selecting their government through peaceful, democratic means."

If you want to understand Kyrgyzstan, read this

Sat, 10 Apr 2010 00:30:00 +0000

At a political fundraiser in the fall of 2008, a congressional candidate introduced me to Rahm Emanuel and explained that I was an expert on Kyrgyzstan. Emanuel quipped that if one of his daughters ever needed to do a book report on an exotic land, he'd give me a call.

Emanuel probably had no idea that, less than two years later, he and the White House would be confronting yet another major crisis in relations with this remote Central Asian nation: this week’s popular revolution, which endangers a critical American military base and also America’s long-range ties to a country in the strategically important borderlands between Russia, China and the Middle East.

The peril for America is compounded by one simple fact: While Washington backed Kyrgyzstan’s now-deposed dictator, Russia -- American’s chief rival in the region -- supported the triumphant forces of change. The fallout, in the months and years to come, could be considerable.

Salon.com > Eugene Huskey

The long shot in Central Asia

If you want to understand Kyrgyzstan, read this