Subject: Query: Is there a change in the atmosphere of cooperation?
From: John Schoeberlein (schoeber@fas.harvard.edu)
Date: Tue Jun 20 2000 - 18:02:53 EDT
Dear Ferghana-Valley List Members:
I would be grateful to hear from anyone with current information from "on-the-ground" who might respond to the following query: Are there changes that can be felt on the ground resulting from the more cooperative attitudes expressed in recent meetings of regional leaders?
On a recent visit to all three of the Ferghana Valley countries, I met with
many government representatives in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, among whom
there were widespread expressions of the belief that the recent high-level
agreements would bring about real change. The agreements they cited
included ones concerning a mutually agreed border delimitation process,
water use and compensation for irrigation infrastructure maintenance, and
security cooperation, among others.
Of course, there are many things that work against cooperation, and many
high-level agreements concluded in the past have not been implemented fully,
if at all. Still there can be hope that the value of cooperation will be
recognized sufficiently strongly, and that real determination by the top
leadership will lead to the right signals, necessary directives, and real
results.
Are there signs of change resulting from the new atmosphere and recent
agreements? How does it appear to those who deal with the practical
consequences on the ground?
I hope the summer in the Valley is not too hot this year -- I'll be there
later to feel it myself.
Thank you for your attention!
John Schoeberlein
(Ferghana-Valley List Moderator
[http://www.friends-partners.org/lists/ferghana-valley/1999/])
(Director, Harvard Forum for Central Asian Studies
[http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~centasia/])
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