Kyrgyzstan’s provisional leaders initially courted public support by taking steps to reverse many of the previous regime’s policies. But as they have settled in to power, provisional leaders have started to emulate former president Kurmanbek Bakiyev’s tendency to blame Islamic radicals for the country’s security woes.
Five leaders from the Caspian littoral states, which include Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan, met in Baku for the third Caspian Summit November 18-20. Once again, they discussed a draft agreement on the legal regime to be used to divide the Caspian's rich natural resources, but failed to resolve a fundamental disagreement about the principle of division.
After the European Union decided to move to a more cooperative approach with Turkmenistan when extending its interim trade agreement last year, and after the U.S. decided to increase cooperation with the annual bilateral consultations (ABCs), the multilateral organizations deepened their already-soft approach.
