Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
The Process of democracy building in Kyrgystan has faltered. Kyrgyzstan must open up again politically and work toward greater economic transparency both through the creation of an independent judiciary and through a more directed and far reaching campaign against corruption.
The United States cannot afford to disengage from Central Asia, as September 11th so clearly demonstrated. Further, unlike other authoritarian regimes closer to Europe, Belarus for example, Kazakhstan is in particular need of U.S. attention. U.S. engagement must include working not only with leaders and regimes but also with ordinary citizens.
Democracy Promotion and Conflict Prevention Roundtable
The term "political reform" is used in numerous ways-both inside and outside the Chinese government, leading to great confusion over its meaning. The best way to understand political reform in China is to survey the various perspectives held by the "ruling elite."
The new US military presence in Uzbekistan is one more sign of how the dominant geopolitical paradigms of the last half of the twentieth century are no longer operative. The Cold War and its aftermath post-Cold War period are at an end.
The most likely outcome the war on terrorism might bring about in Central Asia is a temporary amelioration of the key challenges facing the region that would produce a tenuous stability.
Roundtable on the rule of law at the Carnegie Endowment
Two factors affect Putin and his movement toward the West, said Shevtsova. The first is the readiness and capability of the West to suggest a more sophisticated strategy for integration with Russia. Second, the success of the next stage of transformation might mean that Putin will be required to undo what he has done so far.
Ukraine recently celebrated the tenth anniversary of its independence from the USSR, and for the past decade, Ukrainians have coasted on the euphoria of that one event, he noted. Today that is no longer enough; Ukraine needs economic growth, social development and democratization.
Russia's transition from authoritarianism is far from complete, however as preoccupied as Washington is with its new campaign against terrorism, inattention to the fragility of Russian democracy would be a huge mistake -- and one that could have serious negative consequences for American security.