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A HISTORY OF INNER ASIA

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Summary and conclusion 313<br />

We are thus concluding this brief survey of the former Soviet Central<br />

Asia’s past and present with a mixture of apprehension, hope, and an<br />

admission of the complexity and unpredictability of things to come.For<br />

the first time since colonial conquest in the nineteenth century, Central<br />

Asians are masters of their own house.Russians may be welcome and<br />

even encouraged to continue living in the independent republics, but no<br />

longer as a privileged minority.The Central Asian republics have many<br />

resources: agriculture, mineral deposits, a pleasant climate, historical<br />

monuments, natural beauty, position at the crossroads of the world, an<br />

able and plentiful administration and workforce.All these assets may<br />

turn this region into one of the world’s choice places to live and do business<br />

with, and into one of the prime sites of archeology and tourism.<br />

This will happen, however, only if its leadership and citizens mature into<br />

a civil society that is mindful of its common interests, respectful of each<br />

other’s rights, and aware of the need to preserve the environment not<br />

only through intelligent use and protection but also by admitting that<br />

unchecked population growth may ultimately exhaust and destroy it.If<br />

the oases of Uzbekistan gradually phase out some of the cotton production<br />

and return to growing a variety of fruits, melons and cereals less<br />

voracious of water, they may once again become the earthly paradise<br />

praised in the tenth century by the Arab traveler Ibn Hawqal.If the<br />

Uzbek hotel and other tourist industry infrastructure rises above the<br />

notorious Soviet standards to those of the developed world, international<br />

tourism will surely make Samarkand, Bukhara, and many other<br />

places prime targets of travel, and businessmen and technicians from<br />

abroad will enjoy their visits and assignments there.President Akaev has<br />

repeatedly stated his goal to turn Kyrgyzstan into a Central Asian<br />

Switzerland.It is a praiseworthy and realizable goal, for his country may<br />

even surpass Switzerland in natural beauty and historical interest.<br />

Again, however, the Kyrgyz need to learn much from the Swiss<br />

before they can compete with them.Akaev’s Turkmen colleague<br />

Turkmenbashy (Saparmurad Niyazov) came out with an analogous<br />

ambition: to turn Turkmenistan into a Central Asian Kuwait, thanks to<br />

its fabulous deposits of natural gas and oil.Aside from the forgivable<br />

exaggeration, the ambition, before becoming a reality, will need a considerable<br />

dose of business acumen, international negotiations, and new<br />

pipelines to get these riches to the world market.Similar reservations can<br />

be made about Kazakhstan.At best, it will take a few years before<br />

Central Asian societies can begin to feel the benefits from these many<br />

assets, and things may keep getting worse before they get better.

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