July 10, 2005

Kyrgyzstan is not much better off since the dictatorship has been overthrown. The new rulers are not organized or very popular. Elections appear to be splitting voters along ethnic and tribal lines. Uzbekistan continues to keep rebels under control, although even the overthrow of the current dictator may not lead to a true democracy, but another dictator. Even though the United States has been applying diplomatic and economic pressure on the dictators of Central Asia, Russia and China have been picking up the slack (and replacing lost American economic aid).