NNewsletter 2010/06/21 - Unreliable Allies
BISHKEK/BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Own report) - Political advisors of the International Crisis Group are criticizing western policy toward
Central Asia. In a recently published study, the globally active think tank considers that the overthrow of the government in Kyrgyzstan
shows that Central Asia's authoritarian regimes are incapable of establishing reliable relations in their countries. Their "semblance
of calm" is, in the short run, quite "attractive" to the West, seeking to realize its geostrategic objectives in the competition for raw
materials, but it does not correspond to the long-term interests of western influence. Actually the International Crisis Group has for
years been warning of a possible collapse of the Bishkek government, as it occurred this year - to the disadvantage of the western
countries position in Central Asia. Even Berlin has been placing its bets on the authoritarian regimes of the region, to obtain access to
the natural gas deposits and to secure its military transports to Afghanistan - and is relying on them in its efforts to win new
influence in Kyrgyzstan currently rocked by a bloody unrest.
more
http://www.german-foreign-policy.com/en/fulltext/56353
