[CivilSoc] Populations in Central Asia "Polarized, with No Elasticity"--OSCE

[Moderator]

[CivilSoc Moderator note: The remarks below, taken from the RFE/RL website,
are about three weeks old, but still timely. They were made by the head of
the Democratization Section of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe. They are a warning that the practice of unfair, rigged, and
illegitimate elections in Central Asia and the Caucasus must come to an
end--or social conflict in these countrues will intensify markedly.]
Washington, DC--February 20, 2003.  If the governments of the post-communist
states of Central Asia and the Caucasus are unable establish a peaceful
dialogue with their populations, these countries' future development is in
peril. This was the message of an expert on the region who recently spoke to
a RFE/RL audience.
As Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan enter their second decade of independence, the
populations of these countries are increasingly "polarized with no
elasticity," said Eric Rudenshiold. Rudenshiold, the head of the
Democratization Section of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and
Human Rights, explained that the governments of these states are "viewed by
their populations with hostility, mistrust, and little patience."
Reviewing the situation in these eight countries, Rudenshiold said that in
Kazakhstan [where there has been less violence] the opposition is not yet
radicalized as in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. "There is little middle ground
in Kyrgyzstan," for example, "and moderates are rare," said Rudenshiold.
Just in the last year, he said, "most people have moved to the extremes" and
the opposition has unified, while the government is incapable of engaging on
such a broad spectrum.
In Georgia and Azerbaijan, the gulf between government and civil society is
compounded by the question of presidential succession, which appears more
imminent in these two countries than elsewhere in the region because of the
age of their leaders.
The region also continues to suffer from the malaise and disengagement of
the civil society that existed in the Soviet era. Pandemic corruption
threatens future development in these countries at a fundamental level.
Rudenshiold said that at the time of independence, these countries were
unprepared to develop civil society. They will require continued outside
assistance to develop the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that are the
essential building blocs of any free nation.
Rudenshiold's OSCE office currently funds more than 100 "strategic" projects
in 20 countries of the former Soviet bloc. He acknowledges that it is
difficult to measure the impact of these efforts on post-communist
development. His hope is that, by maintaining these projects and continuing
to work with the next generation of leaders, the involvement of the OSCE in
democratization will help prevent the use of violence in the resolution of
societal disputes.
Copyright (c) 2003. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org