Central Asia
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Kyrgyzstan: Tongue-tied Schools
OSH, Kyrgyzstan | The exodus of native Russian speakers out of Kyrgyzstan shows no signs of slowing.
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Uzbekistan: Do You Speak Russian?
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan | I had a misunderstanding over an Internet card I was trying to buy from a young merchant in one of Tashkent’s stores not far from the Russian […]
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Turkmenistan: Doors Opening, Doors Slamming
Much was made of this year’s secondary school graduating class in Turkmenistan, in both local and international media. This was due to the fact that no students graduated from Turkmen […]
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Kyrgyzstan: Still Waiting
Osh, KYRGYZSTAN | Looking back on the tumultuous events of March 2005, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev once said that the Kyrgyz nation was “put on the edge of losing its […]
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Uzbekistan: From Russia, With Luck
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan | Anya entered the Tashkent branch of an expensive Russian economics university rather than one of Uzbekistan’s public universities, gambling that her choice would lead to a good […]
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Uzbekistan: The Philosopher-King
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan | Here is a pop quiz: Who is the prolific author of the 15 volumes of books and speeches that are required reading for Uzbek students in a […]
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Kazakhstan: Not a Golden Ticket
ASTANA, Kazakhstan | Kazakhstan’s National Science Fund recently rejected a job applicant because he was just too cocky.
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Uzbekistan: Lessons in Graft
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan | Uzbek authorities may be trying to overhaul the educational system to “renew the society” and implement “democratic transformation.” But any steps toward progress may be hindered by […]
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Uzbekistan: Dead Letter
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan | A planned switch from a version of the Cyrillic script introduced for the Uzbek language under Joseph Stalin nearly 70 years ago to the Latin alphabet is […]
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Kyrgyzstan: Reading, Writing, and Riots
OSH, Kyrgyzstan | One afternoon a few weeks ago, the school where Svetlana Karpushkina works as a principal was attacked by a gang of 40 teenagers from another school.
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