... Central Asia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The impact of its activities have varied across the five independent Central Asian states: - The political impact of the EU's policies has been the most evident in Kyrgyzstan and to a slightly lesser ... ... Kazakhstan and to some degree in Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan, while in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan it has been much weaker; - In the security sphere, the EU's impact has been the mostly pronounced in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, to a lesser extent in Kazakhstan,...
... indubitably a positive step but the context which necessitates it speaks volumes about the Russian strategy thus far. As the West focuses on the results of its disastrous recent foreign policy elsewhere, it seems likely that Russia’s role in the security of Central Asia will play a defining role. In the eventuality of this outcome, Russia’s military, humanitarian, and economic assistance to the region will be vital, as will the government’s ability to articulate this importance to its people....
... democratic’ or ‘truly democratic,’ thereby setting the stage for the outside world to decide which side is telling the truth more accurately. It is not always an easy choice. Whether it has been in Southeast Asia, Africa, Latin America, Central Asia or the Caucasus, what the world has usually seen is a corrupt and/or dysfunctional regime replaced ultimately by opposition figures or parties that come to be almost as corrupt and dysfunctional, if not more so. The momentous events that ...