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Mr. Petraus goes to Tashkent

Central Asia

by  |  on February 22nd, 2009  |  2 comments

Now that Manas was officially ordered to be closed this past Friday, the US has 6 months to close up shop. On Tuesday, General Petraus visited Tashkent to discuss alternative supply routes. As you likely know, in 2005 the US base in Uzbekistan was closed after Uzbek authorities machine gunned 500 people in Andijon and the US complained about it. It does not seem that the US is trying to regain use of the base, but rather gain greater cooperation on other matters. For example, the US is already allowed to have its soldiers pass through the German base.

I support greater engagement with all of the Central Asian countries. As Nathan over at Registan.net notes, perhaps this is the time for the US to finally put together a coherent policy of engagement with the countries of Central Asia, as opposed to the melange of ad hoc policies towards each country. This is much easier said than done, however, as politics there are extremely murky and the situation on the ground changes often. Overall, the US needs to greatly increase its area expertise and figure out what it needs to do in a more systematic fashion.

 
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  1. Adil Nurmakov Wednesday - 04 / 03 / 2009 Reply
    For all those who don't know, we at neweurasia have a nice tradition to all write posts on a specific topic. We have covered issues such as religion in politics, HIV/Aids, 15 years ago and 15 years from now. You can check all previous surveys here: http://www.neweurasia.net/in-focus/ We have previously got other CA-focused blogs to take part in these surveys, and it was great to have the whole Stanosphere talk about one particular topic. Now, in light of recent developments, I would like to initiate and coordinate a new regional survey, this time looking at the effects of the economic crisis currently hitting the region. Posts can come in all forms and should touch upon some of the following aspects: * Are people prepared for the downturn? What mechanisms are there with which people are dealing with the crisis? How does it affect daily lives? * Political fallout: How will the governments cope with increasing social pressures? Is any opposition to the current regimes standing to "gain" from the economic crisis? * Social consequences: Is a rise in poverty rates inevitable? Are there any measures put in place that can act as a buffer? * "Psychological" issues: Is the mood in the region changing from optimism to pessimism? * Any other angle? Let me know if you have another idea! Ideally, I'd like to see this survey go live late in March with about 10 posts, at least one from each country. The best posts will get translated into other languages to share them with a wider audience. I'll take care of the homebase post providing an introduction and index post. We may also want to make a nice PDF out of it so we can send it around via email. Can you please let me know by next week, Tuesday 10 March, whether you'd be able to contribute? I'd then like to have all posts ready to be posted around 26/27 March. Really looking forward to hearing your ideas! Please don't hesitate to forward this to people that may be interested in contributing!

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  1. Global Voices Online » Uzbekistan: U.S. Airbase Seeking New Home says:
    February 23, 2009 at 12:50 am

    [...] Elina reports that after the American airbase has been closed in Kyrgyzstan, a top U.S. general is visiting Uzbekistan to discuss alternative supply routes for the army in Afghanistan. Cancel this reply [...]

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Author

Elina Galperin
Elina Galperin

Elina Galperin was born in Minsk, Belarus and grew up in Brooklyn, NY. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School in 2004, she attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where she majored in History and Russian Studies. After finishing her senior thesis on the politics of education among the Kazakhs in the late Imperial period, she graduated in February 2008. In September 2010, she received a Masters of Arts Degree in History, having passed qualifying exams on the Russian and Ottoman empires in the 18th and 19th centuries. In Fall 2011, she advanced to doctoral candidacy, having passed exams in four fields: Russian Empire, Ottoman Empire, Soviet Union, Mongol Empire, focusing on administrative practices and empire-building.

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