Under President Vladimir Putin, Russia's foreign policy establishment is rethinking the concept of empire. In the case of Moscow's approach towards Central Asia, ideas about territorial domination no longer play a significant role in the formulation of strategy, according to a source with access to Russia's policy-making mechanisms.
Although Islamic militants endanger security in Central Asia, the threat is being exploited by regional governments, especially Uzbekistan, in order to tighten their control over their respective societies, according to a new report published by the International Crisis Group.
Without much fanfare, exchange programs funded by the US government are starting to have a tangible impact on civil society development in Central Asia. The quiet success of the programs generates hope that, despite Central Asia's current backsliding towards authoritarianism, the region's longer-term prospects for the expansion of political and economic pluralism remain positive.
"The drought is a disaster for the Karakalpak economy," says Rashid Toreshov, Karakalpakstan's deputy Water Minister. A harried man whose desk sits under a large, imposing portrait of Uzbek president Islam Karimov, Toreshov says the effects will extend far beyond farming: "Most of our industries are based on agriculture."
Gas supplies are flowing again from Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstan following a more than week-long cutoff that created heating and electricity shortages in many Kyrgyz cities. Uzbekistan stopped supplying gas to exert pressure on Kyrgyzstan to pay off $1.35 million in debts for earlier deliveries.
Juma Namangani and about 250 of his Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) fighters have been airlifted by Russian and Tajik military helicopters back to Afghanistan, ending their dramatic five week sojourn in Tajikistan. Namangani's presence in Tajikistan had caused consternation amongst Central Asian leaders, who feared a reprise of the IMU incursions that occurred the past two summers.
The recent discovery of a human organ smuggling ring in the southern Uzbek city of Bukhara is focusing attention on the dangers of widespread poverty, which is driving many to resort to desperate measures in a search for economic security.
This article is the second of a two-part series that reviews key development during the past year in Central Asia. This article focuses on Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan. Click here for part one.
