Central Asia is frequently in the news these days – and most of the news seems to be bad. The casual reader, viewer, and listener has become acquainted with a region of landlocked and poor countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – that share a legacy of isolation, squandered natural resources, environmental degradation, and Soviet-era political systems.
Central Asia is frequently in the news these days – and most of the news seems to be bad. The casual reader, viewer, and listener has become acquainted with a region of landlocked and poor countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – that share a legacy of isolation, squandered natural resources, environmental degradation, and Soviet-era political systems.