Islam fills the ideological vacuum. Turkmen aren t very religious people, but it s not out of the question that in another ten years the country will become overwhelmingly religious because of the current privations. But it is an illiterate kind of Islam, like the kind popular in Chechnya. It is an exploitation of Islam, not real Islam. Vladimir Putin is poised to become Russia s next president later this month.
Russian policy is imbued with criminality and corruption.
When politics is that polluted, the result can only be terrible. I believe Putin will find a common language with Niyazov and that the hands of Russian business magnates will reach well into Turkmenistan. The Russian oligarchy will get there before the Americans do. The main thing is that they not interfere with his rule. The Central Eurasia Project aims, through its website, meetings, papers, and grants, to foster a more informed debate about the social, politcal and economic developments of the Caucasus and Central Asia.