The Difficulties Of Marking Kyrgyzstan’s Borders With Tajikistan And Uzbekistan

The recent detentions of politicians, activists, and journalists in Kyrgyzstan and the two conflicts the country has fought in the last 18 months with neighboring Tajikistan have one thing in common -- they stem from attempts to finally demarcate disputed areas of Kyrgyzstan’s borders with Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Marking Kyrgyzstan’s borders with its southern and western neighbors has not only been difficult, it has been risky. Joining host Bruce Pannier to discuss the situation are Viktoria Akchurina, author of the recently released book Incomplete State-Building In Central Asia: The State As Social Practice, and Bakyt Beshimov, formerly a member of the Kyrgyz parliament, a Kyrgyz ambassador to India and to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.