The Atlanta Journal-Constitution March 30, 2005
'A front-row seat to China's back yard'
By Mary Lou Pickerl
Kyrgyzstan and neighboring Central Asian countries are mostly poor nations important to the United States because of their strategic location.
"It gives us a front-row seat to China's back yard," said John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, a defense information Web site based in Alexandria, Va.
Five countries are former Soviet republics with majority Muslim populations that have cultural and religious ties with Afghanistan and Pakistan. The recent uprising in Kyrgyzstan, which sent President Askar Akayev running to Russia, follows bloodless coups in two other former Soviet republics, Georgia and Ukraine.
Whether the unrest in Kyrgyzstan will spread to its neighbors is the big question, said Josh Machleder, regional manager for Central Asia of Internews Network. The organization is funded by USAID and promotes free speech and free press.
"What we saw in Kyrgyzstan could likely happen in other countries, because we have poor masses who are unhappy with their governments," Machleder said.
Some Central Asian leaders have been in power for 15 years, since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Even before that, several served as Communist Party bosses. "It's been sort of a stagnant situation," Machleder said.
The most immediate link between the United States and Central Asia are U.S. air bases in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan that provide staging areas for flights to Afghanistan, where the United States is engaged in Operation Enduring Freedom.
U.S. trade with the region is anything but smooth.
Coca-Cola's experience in Uzbekistan three years ago shows the personal nature of business in the region and the pitfalls that can happen to even one of the world's most recognized products.
Coca-Cola's local representative was married to the daughter of Islam Karimov, a former Communist Party boss who runs Uzbekistan. When the marriage soured and the daughter filed for divorce, she went about undoing her ex-husband's business deals. He fled the country and the government accused him of owing back taxes, going after his assets, including his minority stake in the Coca-Cola Bottlers of Uzbekistan. The move shut down soft drink production for months. "They were bringing it in from Kazakhstan and it was much more expensive," Machleder said.
Marika Olsen, a former CNN producer who worked in Uzbekistan as the director for Internews, said religious intolerance is the norm there.
Karimov views observant Muslims as potential terrorists and also outlaws the proselytizing of Christianity, she said. All mosques and churches are watched.
"The American Christians who try to convert people to Christianity have to say they're schoolteachers. They can't openly say they're Christians," Olsen said.
While attending a nondenominational Christian church for expatriates, Olsen had to present her passport before entering. Two guards at the door made sure no Uzbeks entered, she said.
Before elections, the Uzbek government closed down Internews there for several months, Olsen said.
"We had tax inspectors come in and pore over our papers. They wouldn't allow us to pay our people. When we went to the bank, they wouldn't allow us to withdraw the funds."
Karimov's candidates won the election.
Kazakhstan is the most commercially viable and the wealthiest of the nations, primarily because of its oil and gas. Almaty, the former capital, is the main center of business. A growing middle class and a building boom mark the difference between that country and its neighbors.
Almaty boasts one big mall, which the Americans in Central Asia visit, Olsen said.
At one store, Americans could buy cheddar cheese, which was hard to get in Uzbekistan, she said. "What was delightful about this mall was, it did feel like home."
© Copyright 2005, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
