Central Asia has often been defined as a cauldron of civilizations-a vast space of steppes, deserts, and mountains traversed by nomadic waves and settled by successive empires. Today, Central Asia is a conglomerate of ethnic groups with separate histories, languages, ethnic identities and cultural aspirations. Ethnic divisions strain the body politic of new, emerging states, once loosely integrated as autonomous republics into the Soviet Union.

Of the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia, Kyrgyzstan seemed to promise the best hope for the establishment of a free market democracy. Despite few natural resources - compared to Turkmenistan's and Uzbekistan's gas supplies and Kazakhstan's Caspian Sea oil deposits - the Celestial Mountains of Kyrgyzstan offered plenty of mineral treasures. Rich veins of gold under the majestic peaks of the Tien Shan give Kyrgyzstan her wealth and a potential for world-class tourism. So far, a strong open market economy has eluded Kyrgyzstan, despite a flourishing black market in contraband, narcotics, and arms smuggling. The government's inability to implement tax reforms has also inhibited foreign investment and the development of a strong middle class.

The challenges faced by this remote mountainous region since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 are formidable. Ten years of perestroika have resulted in an economic crisis, an unmanageable foreign debt, and a deepening corruption that began in the decline of the Soviet Union. Poverty and unemployment are perceived as the main problems underlying all others in the country. Economic deprivation fuels ethnic tensions between the southern regions, dominated by a conservative Uzbek culture, and the politically dominant northern regions, where an emerging Kyrgyz nationalism wrestles with the remnants of Russian cultural influences and western liberal society. All these factors continue to aggravate smooth political, economic and social development.

Muslim militants, sponsored by the Taliban and the al-Qaeda international network, have taken advantage of poverty and ethnic tensions in order to undermine public confidence in the secular government. Their stated goal is to overthrow democratic rule and impose a Muslim khalifat, or theocratic state, in the region. A guerrilla group, called the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, launched incursions into Kyrgyzstan in 1999 and 2000, resulting in several armed encounters. A Muslim radical group called Hizbut Tahrir (the Party of Liberation), with an operational base in Jordan, a funding base in London, and a high level of clandestine activity in the Ferghana Valley shared by Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, has broadcast anti-government, anti-democratic, anti-Semitic, and anti-American posters and tracts in Muslim communities.

Following the events of September 11, 2001, the spotlight of world attention shifted from New York City and Washington DC, to Afghanistan, Israel and Iraq. As a result the new republics of Central Asia have found themselves participants in a new "Great Game." Geopolitical forces have again placed Central Asian states within a volatile nexus of China and Russia nervously watching their "backyards."

With guns blazing in Afghanistan, the US military machine, together with coalition partners, have set up air support bases in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. In the view of some, these forces have destabilized the region; in the view of others, they have provided stability and security where there was none before. The Muslim axis running loosely between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, including Iran and Turkey, has also placed pieces on the game table. These "players" can be seen to represent historical forces that continue to shape the current map of Central Asia.

One question facing nation builders and social programmers today is, how can one build a regional unity in Central Asia, much less a national consciousness in individual republics, from so many different cultures and competing political forces? Any solution will require cooperation between government and NGOs, between foreign agencies and local groups, across cultures, languages and faiths.

The Aslan Alliance plans to contribute to this process by promoting the understanding of culture, ethnicity, nationality and citizenship. The Aslan Alliance is committed to developing opportunities for cross-cultural bridge building and the formation of partnerships with other like-minded groups.

THE NEW CENTRAL ASIA

JIHAD

CIVIL SOCIETY