Publication

This report examines the growing tensions between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan as the second anniversary of the outbreak of violence in June 2010 approaches. It views those tensions against the political backdrop of an emergent, strident Kyrgyz nationalism and a relatively liberal central government in Bishkek that is unable and perhaps unwilling to address the issue. It also briefly addresses the tendency of some major international players, including the UN, to portray intervention in the south after June 2010 as a success for preventive diplomacy.