US Democracy Promotion Policy in the Central Asian Republics

The policy of ‘Democracy Promotion’ has enjoyed prominence in United States relations with Central Asia since 1991.The US commitment to democratization of the Central Asian republics is symbolized by initiatives like the 1992 Freedom Support Act. However, in practice the states’ poor record on human rights, particularly in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, did not stop the US from aiding the regimes in power to further its own interests. Again, the US believed that market reforms in the national economy would trigger democratic reforms in political life. Not merely did US money and policies not improve the situation in, for example, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, but they helped the leaders to establish monopoly on power. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, the compulsions of the US only increased in terms of its need for bases which has necessitated turning a relatively blind eye to the dismal human rights records of the regimes in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Notwithstanding the desire of the US to integrate the Central Asian republics into the Western orbit, it has failed to promote political changes and economic reforms in these countries.