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Begin New Search Political Geography Kyrgyzstan Publication Year within 25 Years

31. The OSCE and the 2010 Crisis in Kyrgyzstan

Author:
Richard Weitz
Publication Date:
05-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
When Kazakhstan president Nursultan Nazarbayev met with U.S. president Barack Obama on several occasions during the former's April 11–14, 2010, visit to Washington, one of the issues the two leaders discussed was the volatile political situation in Kyrgyzstan. They were also joined on at least one occasion by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who was in Washington for the April 12–13 Nuclear Security Summit. The three governments were eager to share assessments about developments in Kyrgyzstan after the April 6–7 civil strife there killed about 80 people and wounded over 1,000. The ensuing chaos led Kazakhstan and other neighboring countries to close their borders with Kyrgyzstan and begin intensive consultations on an appropriate response.
Topic:
Security
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, and Kyrgyzstan

32. From the Ferghana Valley to South Waziristan: The Evolving Threat of Central Asian Jihadists

Author:
Thomas M. Sanderson, Daniel Kimmage, and David A. Gordon
Publication Date:
03-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
When Admiral Dennis Blair, the U.S. director of national intelligence, delivered the intelligence community's annual threat assessment to Congress in February 2009, he painted a bleak picture of post-Soviet Central Asia. Describing Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan as a morass of “highly personalized politics, weak institutions, and growing inequalities,” Blair argued that they are “ill-equipped to deal with the challenges posed by Islamic violent extremism, poor economic development, and problems associated with energy, water, and food distribution.”
Topic:
Terrorism
Political Geography:
United States, Central Asia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Soviet Union

33. Radical Islam in the North Caucasus

Author:
Sergey Markedonov
Publication Date:
11-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
As Kyrgyzstan plunges into crisis and the threat of a second Afghanistan in Central Asia looms large, the situation in the "Big Caucasus" seems less pressing and thus overshadowed. The worst scenarios predicted by analysts and politicians for the period of the 2008 August war have not been realized. The Russian attempt to "replace the regime" of Mikhail Saakashvili or apply the Georgian pattern in Ukraine, expected by many in the West, has not taken place. Neither have the attempts from the West (the United States, NATO, and others) to "nudge Georgia into a rematch," which were expected in Moscow. Nonetheless, the Caucasus region remains one of the most vulnerable spaces in Eurasia. In the Caucasus, the first precedent of a revision of borders between the former Soviet republics was established. For the first time in Eurasia, and particularly in the Caucasus, partially recognized states have emerged. While their independence is denied by the United Nations, it is recognized by the Russian Federation, a permanent member of the UN Security Council. After the "hot August" of 2008, Moscow demonstrated its willingness to play the role of a revisionist state for the first time since 1991. Russia defines the "Big Caucasus" as the sphere of its vital interests and priorities and consequently pretends to be a key stakeholder for the whole region.
Topic:
NATO, Islam, and Insurgency
Political Geography:
Afghanistan, Russia, United States, Central Asia, Eurasia, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Moscow, and United Nations

34. Major Foreign Intervention in Kyrgyzstan would Prompt a Rush to Nationalism by Even the Most Moderate Figures

Author:
Dr. John Heathershaw
Publication Date:
09-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Institution:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Abstract:
Clearly, the subsequent ethnic violence in Osh was sparked by the political crisis and dynamics of 2010. The political crisis was not essentially ethnic but had ethnic aspects and, more importantly, created the conditions of insecurity which enabled the violence in and around Osh. Those that attempt to read the ethnic violence back to the border delimitations of Stalin's era often miss out this crucial political aspect. Central Asia since 1991 has suffered far less armed conflict (and certainly ethnic conflict) than most security analysts have predicted and this is testament to the need for exceptional explanations of exceptional violence. But the relative lack of conflict is of no consolation to those that still suffer from the awful ethnic violence in of June.
Topic:
International Relations
Political Geography:
Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan

35. Kyrgyzstan's Regime Change: Causes and Possible Consequences

Author:
Graeme P. Herd
Publication Date:
07-2010
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The Geneva Centre for Security Policy
Abstract:
On 10 June 2010 in the southern Kyrgyz city of Osh violence erupted, spreading to Jalalabad two days later, with reports of armed gangs, inter - ethnic violence, rape, and stampedes at border crossings into Uzbekistan. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as well as Rosa Otunbayeva the acting interim government Prime Minister and President, stated that over 200 people had been killed, over 2000 wounded, with 400,000 (8% of the Kyrgyz population) displaced – 300,000 internally, 100,000 as refugees into Uzbekistan's neighbouring Andizhan province. China, India, Turkey, South Korea, Germany and Russia amongst others, airlifted their foreign nationals to Bishkek and beyond (see Map: Kyrgyzstan's Complex Emergency).
Topic:
Political Violence and Regime Change
Political Geography:
Central Asia and Kyrgyzstan

36. External Powers' Influence upon the Reform and Political Elites in Present Kyrgyzstan

Author:
Irina Morozova
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Institution:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Abstract:
Formerly perceived as an 'island of democracy', Kyrgyzstan is now characterised as a 'failed state'. After the March 2005 revolutionary upheaval, President K. Bakiev has been searching for a way to consolidate the ruling elite. What was the impact of external powers and international policies upon the last four years' socio-political transformation in the country? How were the images of Kyrgyzstan constructed and manipulated from within and outside? Based upon field interviews, open sources and statistics, this research focuses on the influences of Russia, China, the USA and EU, as well as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan on Kyrgyz political elites' development after March 2005. Against the background of multi-dimensional and quite open foreign policy, economic integration and social networks in Kyrgyzstan developed in closer co-operation with Russia and Kazakhstan.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Diplomacy, International Cooperation, and Reform
Political Geography:
Russia, United States, China, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan

37. Note from the Editor-in-Chief

Author:
Nasimi Aghayev
Publication Date:
01-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Institution:
The Caucasian Review of International Affairs
Abstract:
I am very happy to present the Winter 2009 issue of the Caucasian Review of International Affairs (CRIA). Since our last issue in Autumn 2008, the war in Georgia has receded from the media's attention, but its implications are only beginning to be seriously addressed by the academic community. The CRIA aims to be at the forefront of this ongoing assessment, and in this context we have a number of papers which touch upon the war and its effects upon the region, as well as a theoretical assessment of the Russian intervention. We also present two contrasting Comments on Kosovo's declaration of independence and its implications for the South Caucasus. We are also proud to present additional papers on the Armenian diaspora, Georgia's national competitiveness in a globalised world, energy geo-politics in the Caspian basin, competing Islamic traditions in the Caucasus, external powers' influence upon the reform and political elites in Kyrgyzstan, as well as two topical book reviews and an interview with Dr. Martin Malek from the National Defence Academy of Austria. I would like to thank all of our authors for their time and their insightful work.
Political Geography:
Russia, Caucasus, Kyrgyzstan, Kosovo, and Georgia

38. Women and Radicalisation in Kyrgyzstan

Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Kyrgyzstan's in­creasingly authoritarian government is adopting a counter-productive approach to the country's growing radicalisation. Instead of tackling the root causes of a phenomenon that has seen increasing numbers, including many women, joining groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT), it is resorting to heavy-handed police methods that risk pushing yet more Kyrgyz towards radicalism. The authorities view HT, which describes itself as a revolutionary party that aims to restore by peace­ful means the caliphate that once ruled the Mus­lim world, as a major security threat. But for some men and ever more women, it offers a sense of identity and belonging, solutions to the day-to-day failings of the society they live in, and an alternative to what they widely view as the Western-style social model that prevails in Kyrgyzstan. Without a major effort to tackle endemic corruption and economic failure, radical ranks are likely to swell, while repression may push at least some HT members into violence. This report focuses pri­marily on the increasingly important role that women are playing in the movement.
Topic:
Gender Issues and Islam
Political Geography:
Central Asia, Asia, and Kyrgyzstan

39. Central Asia: Islamists in Prison

Publication Date:
12-2009
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
The number of Islamists in Kyrgyz and Kazakh prisons is small but growing, in both size and political significance. Well-organised Islamist proselytisers, mostly imprisoned on charges of religious extremism, are consolidating their position within the informal structures of power behind prison walls. Incarcerating determined activists is providing them with the opportunity to extend their influence among convicts, at first inside prison and then on their release. Problems within jails in Central Asia have been known to seep outside the prison walls; the expansion of radical Islamist thought within prisons is likely to have serious consequences. The paradox of the situation is that, in private at least, political leaders in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan are intensely aware that the best way to defeat extremism is to address woeful social and economic conditions, fight the systemic top-to-bottom corruption that besets all the region's regimes, and in the words of one regional leader, “give people a future”.
Topic:
Political Violence, Islam, and Armed Struggle
Political Geography:
Central Asia, Asia, and Kyrgyzstan

40. The Tulip Revolution: Kyrgyzstan One Year After

Author:
Erica Marat
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
Erica Marat tarafından kaleme alınan The Tulip Revolution: Kyrgyzstan One Year After (Lale Devrimi: Bir Yıl Sonra Kırgızistan) başlıklı bu kitap, Kırgızistan'da 24 Mart 2005 tarihinde Kırgız halkının büyük baskısı sonucu Cumhurbaşkanı Askar Akayev'in iktidardan uzaklaştırılması ile gerçekleşen ve Lale Devrimi olarak adlandırılan olaylardan sonraki bir yıllık süreci tüm ayrıntılarıyla ele almaktadır. Aslen bir Kırgız olan Erica Marat, bu özelliŞinin saŞladıŞı avantajı kullanarak Lale Devriminden sonraki bir yıl içerisinde Kırgızistan'ın iç ve dış politikasının nasıl şekillendiŞini, Jamestown Foundation'a baŞlı olan Eurasia Daily Monitor'de yayınlan yazılarından yararlanarak tarihsel bir şekilde anlatmaktadır. Erica Marat'ın ülkesinin iç dinamiklerini çok iyi bilen bir araştırmacı olması ve yerel kaynaklardan yararlanabilmesi eserine özgünlük katmıştır. Kitap, Lale Devrimi'nin yıldönümünde yayınlamış olması ve bu bir yılda yaşanılanları sıcaŞı sıcaŞına anlatması bakımından da oldukça ilgi çekicidir. Söz konusu kitapta, özellikle 24 Mart'ta yaşanılanlardan sonra kurulan geçici hükümetle birlikte daha önce Akayev hükümetinde görev almış fakat Akayev tarafından siyasetten uzaklaştırıldıktan sonra muhalefete katılmış Kurmanbek Bakiyev'in Kırgız siyaset sahnesindeki konumu anlatılmaktadır. Ayrıca, kitapta Kırgızistan'da 24 Mart sonrası geçiş döneminde yaşanılan istikrar sorunları, Özbekistan'da gerçekleşen Andican olaylarının komşusu Kırgızistan'a nasıl yansıdıŞı, ülkedeki Amerikan ve Rus üslerinin durumu, Kırgızistan'daki CumhurbaşkanlıŞı seçimleri sırasında ve sonrasında Lale Devrimine imza atan liderler arasında yaşanan çekişmelere yer verilmektedir. Buna ek olarak, kitapta yer alan diŞer önemli bir unsur ise Lale Devrimi ardından, yeni bir Cumhurbaşkanı ve yeni bir iktidarla birlikte Kırgızistan'da ülkenin baŞımsızlıŞını kazanmasından beri var olan yolsuzluk, nepotizm, bölgesel kayırmacılık, mafya-siyaset ilişkisi ve demokratikleşme gibi konuların nasıl bir aşama geçirdiŞidir. Tüm bu noktalara deŞinirken yazar tarafsızlıŞını korumak adına kendi görüşlerini dile getirmekten mümkün oldukça kaçınmıştır. Hatta yazarın bu dönemle ilgi diŞer yazıları göz önünde bulundurulduŞunda üslubunun çok yumuşak olduŞu söylenilebilir. Yazarın konuları ele alırken Kırgız halkı ile yaptıŞı röportajlara yer vermesi anlatımını büyük ölçüde zenginleştirmekte ve hem iç politikada hem de dış politikada yaşanılanlar konusunda Kırgızların neler düşündüŞünü okuyucuya net bir şekilde yansıtmaktadır.
Political Geography:
Eurasia and Kyrgyzstan