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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Kyrgyzstan
Index
Although internal stability has not been a serious problem during the
Akayev era, events in the mid-1990s threatened to make it so. By 1995
economic hardship, to which international experts did not predict a rapid
end, combined with insufficient internal security forces and the
opportunity for profits from organized narcotics activities to threaten
the stability of Kyrgyzstan's society, especially in the major urban
centers of Bishkek and Osh. The high crime rate also interfered with plans
to attract Western tourist trade.
Meanwhile, as of 1995 external security came exclusively from Russia, a
situation that Kyrgyzstan officially welcomed in the absence of domestic
resources to build a credible military force for its very small and
isolated nation. As in the economic field, however, policy makers were not
sure how long Russia would view strong support of Kyrgyzstan's national
security as an important element of Russian foreign policy. Although no
major regional threat loomed in the mid-1990s, major policy questions
remained unanswered.
* * *
A useful reference for general historical background is Central
Asia: 120 Years of Russian Rule , edited by Edward Allworth and
revised in 1994. The Kyrgyzstan chapter of Martha Brill Olcott's Central
Asia's New States is a concise description of the republic's status
in the post-Soviet world. Several publications of the World Bank provide
detailed information about social and economic developments in the 1990s.
Among the most useful are those entitled Kyrgyz Republic: Economic
Report ; Kyrgyz Republic: Agricultural Sector Review ;
Kyrgyz Republic: Energy Sector Review ; and Kyrgyzstan:
Social Protection in a Reforming Economy . For general background on
Kyrgyz society and customs, the government's Discovery of Kyrghyzstan
is a valuable source. (For further information and complete citations, see
Bibliography.)
Data as of March 1996
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