At 10:22 AM 3/8/01 -0800 Joshua Bell wrote:
>Oh, a nice stable part of the world. :) (Based on the assumption that
>there's usually political upheaval going on in any country with a -stan
>prefix.)
Actually, Kazakhstan has been very stable part of the world, despite that
ethnic-Kazakhs actually make up less than 50% of the population. Of
course, this is due at least in part to the heavy-handed rule of Nursultan
Nazarbaev, who has basically been President-for-life since independene -
but democracy and respect for human rights /= stability.
Now, if you go several hundred miles to the South of Kazakhstan to the
Fergana Valley (in Uzbekistan, and bordering Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) and
its a different story.
JDG
JDG
__________________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
"The point of living in a Republic after all, is that we do not live by
majority rule. We live by laws and a variety of isntitutions designed
to check each other." -Andrew Sullivan 01/29/01
