Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Kyrgyz'

This thesis explores whether the Kyrgyz Republic has operated in its national interest during the post-September 11, 2001 era by examining the Kyrgyz government’s decisions in the cases of the American and Russian military installations leased within Kyrgyzstan. It uses a Realist approach to “national interest” and explains whether and how the Kyrgyz Republic’s decisions increased its defense capabilities, improved its financial situation and created a better political environment in which to operate. The study employed news sources in English and Russian, recently released U.S. State Department diplomatic cables, qualitative analyses by regional experts and quantitative data from government bodies. I contend that it is consistent with Kyrgyz national interest to close the American base while maintaining the Russian military presence; the Russian Federation’s support of the Kyrgyz Republic is apparently conditional on expulsion of the American bases. The analysis suggests that a more thorough understanding of how the Kyrgyz Republic conceptualizes its national interest can help international policy makers formulate more effective strategies to collaborate with it.
Master of Arts

This thesis presents a comprehensive study of Kyrgyz foreign policy from the early 1990s to 2011. It seeks to answer the following research question: how and to what extent does regime security affect Kyrgyz foreign policymaking? In so doing, this work aims to contribute to the understanding of Central Asian politics and the foreign policy sources of weak states across the post-Soviet space. The underlying theme of this dissertation is centred on the question whether neorealist or constructivist traditions provide a more in-depth account of the erratic Kyrgyz foreign policymaking. Notwithstanding a myriad of studies on weak states, the analysis of their foreign policies is limited and mostly characterised by idiosyncratic, reductionist and great power approaches. In this respect, an interpretive and inductive framework integrative of both internal and external variables and with properly contextualised causal mechanisms may explain the international behaviour of weak states in broader and more genuine terms. Thus, the puzzle to be resolved is whether the concepts of rent-seeking and virtual politics can either substitute for or complement the New Great Game narratives in the context of weak states in general and Kyrgyzstan in particular.

Seit der Unabhängigkeit der zentralasiatischen Republik Kirgisistan haben Politik, Verwaltung und Ökonomie verschiedene Formen von Dezentralisierung erfahren. Diese Dissertation umfasst fünf Essays, die die Dezentralisierung im landwirtschafltichen Sektor aus institutionenökonomischer Sicht untersuchen. Die ersten zwei Essays geben detaillierte Einblicke in die institutionellen Rahmenbedingungen von Dezentralisierung und beurteilen ihrer Wirkung in Hinblick auf Serviceverfügbarkeit und -qualität in dörflichen Gemeinden. Die folgenden drei Essays untersuchen, anhand einzelner und multipler Fallstudien, ein spezifisches Beispiel der Dezentralisierung landwirtschaftlicher Services: die Einführung von gemeindebasiertem Weidemanagement. Es lassen sich drei Ergebnisse ableiten: Erstens, internationale Nichtregierungsorganisationen (NROs) steuern das ländliche Dienstleistungsangebot und fördern die Bildung gemeindebasierter Nutzergruppen für ausgewählte Services. Zweitens, Institutionen zur Implementierung der Servicebereitstellung werden von NROs entwickelt; drittens, die Servicebereitsstellung ist nicht befriedigend und das Potential zur Berücksichtigung lokaler Servicebedürfnisse und lokalen Wissens wird nur teilweise ausgeschöpft, da die Implementierung keine umfassende Servicenutzerbeteiligung sicherstellt. Die Wirkungen gemeindebasierter Dezentralisierungsprozesse sind als Ergebnis rationaler Handlungsentscheidungen von lokalen Mitarbeitern der NRO und Verantwortlichen in der dörflichen Verwaltung zu verstehen. Diese Entscheidungen sind vielfach durch extern entwickelte, und teilweise unpassende, Institutionen bestimmt. Verbesserte Implementierungsstrategien sind daher notwendig. Diese sind auf Basis detaillierter qualitativer Studien des lokalen Umsetzungskontexts zu entwickeln.
Since the Central Asian Kyrgyz Republic gained independence from the Soviet Union, policy making, administration and economy have seen some form of decentralization. This dissertation contains five essays which study decentralization in the Kyrgyz agricultural sector from an institutional economics perspective. The first two essays provide in-depth information on the institutional setting of decentralization and its effects on service availability and quality at municipality level. The subsequent three essays explore, based on single and multiple case studies, one specific field of decentralized agricultural services: a community-based natural resource management reform in the pasture sector. The three key findings are: first, international NGOs govern rural service provision and support the creation of community-based service user groups for selected services; second, the NGOs design institutions for implementation and provide financial resources; third, service provision is unadequate and, because implementation does not provide for broader service user involvement in decision making, service user needs and local knowledge impact service decisions only to a very limited degree. The overall result of the dissertation is that the municipality-level processes of decentralization must be understood as outcomes of rational decision making of lowest-level NGO staff and municipality level policy administrators. These decisions are impacted by partly inappropriate, externally designed implementation institutions. Improved implementation rule design is therefore needed. The recommendation from this research is therefore to use detailed qualitative studies of implementation contexts as a basis for developing better tailored implementation strategies.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tufts University, 2005.
Chair: Andrew Hess. Submitted to the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 362-370). Access restricted to members of the Tufts University community. Also available via the World Wide Web;

Intra-continental mountain belts typically form as a result of tectonic forces associated with distant plate collisions. In general, each mountain belt has a distinctive morphology and orogenic evolution that is highly dependent on the unique distribution and geometries of inherited structures and other crustal weaknesses. In this thesis, I have investigated the complex and irregular Cenozoic orogenic evolution of the Central Kyrgyz Tien Shan in Central Asia, which is presently one of the most active intra-continental mountain belts in the world. This work involved combining a broad array of datasets, including thermochronologic, magnetostratigraphic, sediment provenance and stable isotope data, to identify and date various changes in tectonic deformation, climate and surface processes. Many of these changes are linked and can ultimately be related to regional-scale processes that altered the orogenic evolution of the Central Kyrgyz Tien Shan. The Central Kyrgyz Tien Shan contains a sub-parallel series of structures that were reactivated in the late Cenozoic in response to the tectonic forces associated with the distant India-Eurasia collision. Over time, slip on the various reactivated structures created the succession of mountain ranges and intermontane basins which characterises the modern morphology of the region. In this thesis, new quantitative constraints on the exhumation histories of several mountain ranges have been obtained by using low temperature thermochronological data from 95 samples (zircon (U-Th)/He, apatite fission track and (U-Th)/He). Time-temperature histories derived by modelling the thermochronologic data of individual samples identify at least two stages of Cenozoic cooling in most of the region’s mountain ranges: (1) initially low cooling rates (<1°C/Myr) during the tectonic quiescent period and (2) increased cooling in the late Cenozoic, which occurred diachronously and with variable magnitude in different ranges. This second cooling stage is interpreted to represent increased erosion caused by active deformation, and in many of the sampled mountain ranges, provides the first available constraints on the timing of late Cenozoic deformation. New constraints on the timing of deformation have also been derived from the sedimentary record of intermontane basins. In the intermontane Issyk Kul basin, new magnetostratigraphic data from two sedimentary sections suggests that deposition of the first Cenozoic syn-tectonic sediments commenced at ~26 Ma. Zircon U-Pb provenance data, paleocurrent and conglomerate clast analysis reveals that these sediments were sourced from the Terskey Range to the south of the basin, suggesting that the onset of the late Cenozoic deformation occurred >26 Ma in that particular range. Elsewhere, growth strata relationships are used to identify syn-tecotnic deposition and constrain the timing of nearby deformation. Collectively, these new constraints obtained from thermochronologic and sedimentary data have allowed me to infer the spatiotemporal distribution of deformation in a transect through the Central Kyrgyz Tien Shan, and determine the order in which mountain ranges started deforming. These data suggest that deformation began in a few widely-spaced mountain ranges in the late Oligocene and early Miocene. Typically, these earlier mountain ranges are bounded on at least one side by a reactivated structure, which probably corresponds to the frictionally weakest and most suitably orientated inherited structures for accommodating the roughly north-south directed horizontal crustal shortening of the late Cenozoic. Moreover, tectonically-induced rock uplift in the Terskey Range, following the reactivation of the bounding structure before 26 Ma, likely caused significant surface uplift across the range, which in turn lead to enhanced orographic precipitation. These wetter conditions have been inferred from stable isotope data collected in the two magnetostratigraphically-dated sections in the Issyk Kul basin. Subsequently, in the late Miocene (~12‒5 Ma), more mountain ranges and inherited structures appear to have started actively deforming. Importantly, the onset of deformation at these locations in the late Miocene coincides with an increase in exhumation of ranges that had started deforming earlier in the late Oligocene‒early Miocene. Based on this observation, I have suggested that there must have been an overall increase in the rate of horizontal crustal shortening across the Central Kyrgyz Tien Shan, which likely relates to regional tectonic changes that affected much of Central Asia. Many of the mountain ranges that started deforming in the late Miocene were associated with out-of-sequence tectonic reactivation and initiation, which lead to the partitioning of larger intermontane basins. Moreover, within most of the intermontane basins in the Central Kyrgyz Tien Shan, this inferred late Miocene increase in horizontal crustal shortening occurs roughly at the same time as an increase in sedimentation rates and a significant change sediment composition. Therefore, I have suggested that the overall magnitude of deformational processes increased in the late Miocene, promoting more flexural subsidence in the intermontane basins of the Central Kyrgyz Tien Shan.
Intrakontinentale Gebirge sind typischerweise das Ergebnis tektonischer Kräfte, die auf entfernte Plattenkollisionen beruhen. Im Allgemeinen hat jedes Gebirge sein charakteristisches morphologisches Erscheinungsbild und seine eigene und einzigartige Entstehungsgeschichte, die zum Großteil von der Verteilung und der Geometrie vorgeprägter Strukturen und anderer Schwächzonen innerhalb der Erdkruste abhängt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit habe ich die komplexe känozoische Gebirgsbildung des zentral-kirgisischen Tian Shan Gebirges, eines der weltweit aktivsten intrakontinentalen Gebirge, untersucht. Diese Arbeit kombiniert verschiedenste Datensätze, darunter thermochronologische und magnetostratigraphische Daten, Sedimentprovenienzen und stabile Isotopenzusammensetzungen, um Änderungen der tektonischen Deformationsprozesse sowie Klima- und Oberflächenveränderungen zu erkennen und gegebenenfalls zu datieren. Viele dieser Veränderungen sind eng miteinander verknüpft und können letztendlich auf regionale Prozesse zurückgeführt werden, die die Entwicklung des zentral-kirgisischen Tian Shan beeinflussen. Das Tian Shan Gebirge besteht aus einer subparallelen Folge einzelner Gebirgsrücken und deren Strukturen, welche im späten Känozoikum als Reaktion auf die entfernt stattfindende Indo-Eurasische Kollision reaktiviert wurden. Im Laufe der Zeit haben Deformation und Versatz entlang dieser reaktivierten Strukturen eine Abfolge von individuellen Gebirgszügen und dazwischen liegenden Sedimentbecken geschaffen deren Morphologie prägend für die heutige Region ist. In dieser Arbeit wurden neue quantitative Altersbestimmungen zur Exhumationsgeschichte mehrerer Gebirgszüge durch thermochronologische Auswertungen an 95 Gesteinsproben durchgeführt (ZHe, AFT und AHe). Die aus Modellierungen einzelner thermochronologischer Datensätze gewonnenen Temperaturgeschichten lassen für die meisten untersuchten Gebirgszüge mindestens zwei Abschnitte känozoischer Abkühlung erkennen: (1) anfänglich niedrige Abkühlungsraten (<1°C/Myr) während einer tektonische Ruhephase und (2) stärkere Abkühlung im späten Känozoikum, die in den verschiedenen Gebirgsketten diachron und mit unterschiedlicher Intensität einsetzt. Diese zweite Abkühlungsphase kann durch einen Anstieg der Erosionsraten durch aktive Deformation interpretiert werden und stellt für viele der untersuchten Gebirgszüge die erste verfügbare Alterabschätzung spätkänozoischer Deformation dar. Neue Deformationsalter wurden weiterhin aus den Sedimenten intermontaner Becken gewonnen. Im intermontanen Issyk Kul Becken lassen neue magnetostratigraphische Daten zweier Sedimentabschnitte vermuten, dass die Ablagerung der ersten syntektonischen Sedimente im Känozoikum um ca. 26 Ma begann. Weiterhin zeigen Zirkon-Provenienzen, Paläoströmungsrichtungen sowie Klastenanalysen konglomeratischer Sedimente, dass diese Sedimente aus der Terskey Range südlich des Beckens stammen, was vermuten lässt, dass der Beginn der spätkänozoischen Deformation in diesem Teil des Gebirgszuges älter als 26 Ma ist. In anderen Bereichen wurden sedimentäre Wachstumsstrukturen zur Identifikation syntektonischer Ablagerung herangezogen, um somit den Zeitpunkt nahe gelegener Deformation zu bestimmen. Zusammengenommen haben meine Beobachtungen und Auswertungen ermöglicht, die räumlichen und zeitlichen Deformationsmuster quer durch das zentral-kirgisischen Tian Shan Gebirge zu erschließen um eine zeitliche Abfolge in der Entstehung und Entwicklung einzelner Gebirgszüge zu entwickeln. Meine Daten lassen vermuten, dass die Deformation in einigen wenigen, weit auseinander liegenden Bergketten im Spätoligozän bis Frühmiozän begann. Typischerweise sind diese frühen Gebirgsketten auf mindestens einer Seite an eine reaktivierte Struktur gebunden. Diese sind die wahrscheinlich schwächsten oder am besten orientierten Strukturen, um die annähernd Nord-Süd gerichtete Einengung im späten Känozoikum aufzunehmen. Darüber hinaus ist es sehr wahrscheinlich, dass die tektonische Gesteinshebung innerhalb der Terskey Range, entlang reaktivierter Störungen vor 26 Ma, eine signifikante Topographiezunahme zur Folge hatte. Dies führte höchstwahrscheinlich zur Ausbildung einer orographischen Barriere und der damit verbundenen Verstärkung der Regenfälle im Becken nördlich des Rückens. Diese Bedingungen konnten mithilfe stabiler Isotopenzusammensetzungen entlang der zwei magnetostratigraphisch datierten Sedimentprofile im Issyk Kul Becken nachgewiesen werden. Während des späten Miozäns (~12‒5 Ma) begann zeitnah die aktive Deformation und Heraushebung mehrerer neuer Gebirgsrücken. Wichtig dabei erscheint, dass der Zeitpunkt dieser spätmiozänen Deformation mit einem Exhumationsschub derer Gebirgszüge zusammenfällt, die schon viel früher (Spätoligozän bis Frühmiozän) mit der Deformation begannen. Aufgrund dieser Beobachtungen habe ich vorgeschlagen, dass es einen generellen Anstieg der Einengungsraten im Tian Shan gegeben haben muss, welcher auf regionale tektonische Veränderungen zurückzuführen ist die große Teile Zentralasiens betrafen. Viele der Gebirgsrücken, die initial im späten Miozän herausgehoben wurden, sind durch unsystematische, tektonische Prozesse der Reaktivierung und Initialisierung von Strukturen (out-of-sequence) entstanden, die zur Teilung vormals großer, zusammenhängender Sedimentbecken führte. Darüber hinaus weisen die meisten intermontanen Becken im zentral-kirgisischen Tian Shan, in etwa zur Zeit der beobachteten, verstärkten Einengung im Spätmiozän, ebenfalls erhöhte Sedimentationsraten und eine signifikante Änderung der Sedimentzusammensetzung. Daher vermute ich, dass die allgemeine Intensität der Deformation im Spätmiozän zunahm, was eine tektonische Absenkung (flexural subsidence) in den intermontane Becken des zentral-kirgisischen Tian Shan Gebirges zur Folge hatte.

In the transition from a centrally planned system to a market economy many former socialist economies launched comprehensive reforms that involved liberalising energy markets. The extent to which energy utilities have been liheralised differs from country to country; in the case of Kyrgyzstan there are still many indications of market distortions due to the persistence of the soft budget constraints. In this context this study investigates possible effects of electricity price reforms on overall welfare, which includes the analysis of electricity demand elasticities, substitutability of electricity, ability and willingness to pay a higher price. The empirical study is based on a representative sample of Kyrgyz households' energy consumption in 1999, which consists of 2993 observations. Results show: first, that households' electricity demand is inelastic with respect to own price changes (-0.59) and to changes in income (0.21). The illustrated net welfare gains from a gradual decrease in electricity subsidy are significant (up to 2% of GDP). Second, there are no strong substitutes for electricity, whereas electricity is the flrst-best substitute of the other energy resources available to ; households. Third, two-thirds of households have a capacity to pay increased electricity prices, while the remaining one-third needs a targeted assistance in order to be able to pay. The most influential factors of the willingness to pay are income, quality ofelectricity supply and payment arrears. Results of this study suggest that efficiency distortions in the Kyrgyz energy market can be alleviated by abolishing subsidies and hardening the budget constraint. Equity concerns are best tackled by replacing subsidies and discounts with more targeted tools, such as direct cash transfers. Its findings are relevant for the current electric,ty sector reform debate because they suggest ample scope for improving the efficiency of electricity utilisation without hurting the poorest part ofthe population.

Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Maryland, College Park, 2007.
Thesis research directed by: Public Policy. Title from t.p. of PDF. Includes bibliographical references. Published by UMI Dissertation Services, Ann Arbor, Mich. Also available in paper.

This thesis examines welfare and labour markets during the transition away from a command economy of one of the less developed Republics of the FSU, the Kyrgyz Republic. In the FSU, the early 1990s were characterized by large falls in GDP and small changes to already low unemployment. Microeconomic theory is applied to explain these macroeconomic outcomes and the first Chapter of Part II, the labour market section, presents a model of firms' production decisions. Adjustment in labour intensity, rather than quantity, is shown to be part of a rational strategy given features of Soviet institutions. Delays in wage payments increased significantly over this period. Wage arrears have an impact on household welfare as well as reflecting a breakdown in formal employment. A probit regression model of the incidence of wage arrears is applied to examine if certain workers were more affected by this phenomena. The effects to the formal labour market resulted in increased informal sector activities. Despite significant delays in wage payments workers were observed to work full-time in formal employment. A model of workers' labour supply decisions is presented which incorporates features of informal activities within and outside formal employment. These extensions result in non-trivial changes to the reservation wage. The provision of social benefits through enterprises is also shown to affect decisions to work in the informal sector. Part I of the thesis examines the extent of changes to welfare using both monetary and non-monetary measures. The first Chapter uses an expenditure-based measure of household income to examine changes in inequality and poverty. The second Chapter uses self-reported happiness and illustrates how informative such measures can be, particularly when monetary measures are likely to be subject to measurement error. The analysis is based on recently available nationally representative household survey data for the years 1993 and 1996.

Improving organizational performance is an essential goal for any type of organization. This process involves varieties of methods, polices and strategies. One of the important elements of organizational performance is trust-building process which deeply depends on leadership efforts of ranked employees and managers. Literature has enough empirical evidence on influence of trust and trusted work environment on organizational performance. Aftermath of recent riots and clashes in Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyz National Police (KNP) officers are demoralized by the actions of both previous and current governments which bear corruption, bribery and clan type of ruling. These facts led to untrustworthy environments and relationships among officers with concentration of power on the top. In order to provide trusted environments and trust among officers, there is need for more linear type of management, especially in terms of supervisor-subordinate relationships. There is urgent need for reforms at KNP which would focus more on governance and collaborative management style administration. Organizational social capital and organizational citizenship behavior develop strong foundation for trusted relationships and committed actions in communities and organizations. These two concepts were examined in public organization setting in this study. Organizational social capital is a source for trust building process where participative decision-making, feedback on performance, empowerment and interpersonal trust among employees are important elements of this phenomenon. On the other hand, organizational citizenship behavior is a source for entrepreneurship and organizational commitment. The measurement models of four dimensions of organizational social capital (participation, feedback on performance, empowerment and interpersonal trust) and organizational citizenship behavior represented by organizational commitment were examined in this study.; The influence of organizational social capital and organizational citizenship behavior on perceived organizational performance of KNP is observed by utilizing structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. Moreover, all possible correlations among all dimensions of organizational social capital with each other and with organizational commitment were tested. This study utilizes the data accomplished in 7 regions of Kyrgyzstan and a capital of Bishkek. The total number of respondents participated in the survey were 267 KNP officers from different KNP departments. This study tested eleven hypotheses where nine of them were statically supported. The results of this study indicate that the dimensions of organizational social capital (participation, feedback and empowerment) have statistically significant relationships with perceived organizational performance through mediating variable of interpersonal trust. However, the relationship of participation and feedback with perceived organizational performance through mediating variable of organizational commitment was insignificant. On the other hand, results indicated positive correlations among the three dimensions organizational social capital with high factor loadings. Overall, the results suggest that organizational social capital with its dimensions is the main source of trust-building process which enormously influences perceived organizational performance. Moreover, by practicing empowerment it is possible to increase number of committed officers which is also an important factor in improving organizational performance.
ID: 030422941; System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader.; Mode of access: World Wide Web.; Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2011.; Includes bibliographical references (p. 197-208).
Ph.D.
Doctorate
Public Affairs
Health and Public Affairs

The House of Meaning is a study of the perception of the environment and the organisation of space in the boz üy (tent) of the nomadic Kyrgyz. It examines the boz üy as a core metaphor for Kyrgyz nomadic life and as a matrix for the social organisation of that life. I begin this dissertation with a review of Central Asian nomadic history, considering the age of the early nomads, the 'Orientalism' debate, oral history, lineage and tribal relations, and the Kyrgyz oral epic Manas. I then pose the question, "What is a nomad?" and suggest that in order to understand Kyrgyz pastoral nomadism, we need to consider the importance of movement, human-animal relations and the nomadic philosophy of nature. Following this, I consider learning and tradition, focusing on the importance of the family- and home-based nature of Kyrgyz learning, and on the importance the Kyrgyz place on non-declarative learning for the upbringing of children. Then I examine Kyrgyz shyrdak carpets, considering them in terms of the criteria of beauty, skill, form and meaning, and the context in which they are made. Finally, I examine the Kyrgyz boz üy, the felt tent itself, and, through a consideration of form and space in vernacular architecture, attempt to distil the multi-faceted significance of this seemingly simple form of dwelling. I consider geometry, the notion of 'organic' in vernacular architecture, different anthropological approaches to space in architecture, homeliness and the unfolding relationship between the person, the house and the universe. The Kyrgyz are a nomadic people. Their home moves with them and yet it is a still place, the focus and integrating force of their lives. The Kyrgyz boz üy is a 'house of meaning' because it is a generating point for social forces and a centre for learning and change. It is both a microcosm of the universe and a macrocosm of the person. It provides an essential image of the synthesis and synergy of the lives of a nomadic people.

Pollination-dependent fruit trees grown in home gardens play an important role in the agricultural based economy of Central Asian countries, yet little is known about the status of pollinator communities, the cultivated plant composition or the factors that influence management practices in Kyrgyz home garden agroecosystems. As agricultural systems are human created and managed, a logical approach to their study blends anthropological and ecological methods, an ethnoecological approach. Over three years, I investigated how species richness and abundance of Hymenoptera, cultivated plants, and home garden management were related using quantitative and qualitative methods in the Issyk-kul Man and Biosphere reserve. Structured surveys were undertaken with heads of households using a random sample stratified by village. Gardens were then mapped with participation of household members to inventory edible species in gardens, most of which are pollinator-dependent, and to compare home garden diversity as reported by respondents during interviews. Apple diversity was studied to the variety level to understand respondents’ classification system in the context of in situ agrobiodiversity conservation. Household members identified 52 edible plant species when mapping the garden, compared with 32 reported when interviewed. The proportion of plant species received from others through exchange and the number of plots cultivated significantly explained the variation in edible plant diversity among gardens. Insects were sampled in gardens and orchards to determine potential pollinator community composition and the effect of different management practices on Hymenoptera richness and abundance. I collected 756 Hymenoptera individuals (56 bee; 12 wasp species); 12 species were new records for Kyrgyzstan or within Kyrgyzstan. Economic pressures to intensify cultivation could impact management practices that currently promote diversity. A home garden development initiative was undertaken to study management practice improvement. Participants in the initiative had higher adoption rates than controls of management practices that improve long-term yield, ecological sustainability and stability of home gardens. Home gardens, as currently managed, support abundant and diverse pollinator communities and have high cultivated plant diversity with few differences in community composition between garden management types.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University
This anthropological study of two Kyrgyz communities in Afghanistan's Pamir Mountains examines the changing nature of political leadership in Afghan Kyrgyz society over the past forty years. The research was conducted during nineteen months spent in Afghanistan, between 2006 and 2010, including twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation among the Kyrgyz in both the Great and Little Pamirs. Data were collected on Kyrgyz history, demography, pastoral production strategies and market access-as well as, most importantly, the political strategies of various Kyrgyz leaders. Given the predominately rural nature of Afghanistan and the limited reach and influence of formal government structures, informal leadership constitutes the primary form of governance experienced by most Afghans. Far from being a timeless or static process, access to positions to leadership has been and remains opportunistic and dynamic, demonstrating considerable adaptability to changing social, economic, and political conditions. This study considers informal leadership in Afghan Kyrgyz society over four periods: pre-April 1978; the Saur Revolution and the Soviet-Afghan war (1978-1989); the mujahideen conquest, the civil war, and the war against the Taliban (1989-2001); and the post-Taliban period (2001-2012). Kyrgyz population transfers, the Soviet occupation of the Pamirs, mujahideen rule, and post-Taliban state-building efforts in Afghanistan have had far-reaching effects upon Kyrgyz politics, primarily by reconstituting access to political capital. In contrast to the pre-1978 period, when it was derived mostly from pastoral wealth, political capital has been increasingly accumulated through the process of extracting and redistributing exogenous resources, via patron-client networks, by Kyrgyz leaders seeking to establish, maintain, legitimize or contest political authority. Situating both the Great and Little Pamir, as well as the Afghan state, in recent historical context, this dissertation explains the various social and economic factors that account for the development of three different types of political leadership-the khan, the wakil, and the CDCs-all of which, though, retain the same goal: extracting patronage to accumulate political capital and legitimacy. It concludes by noting recent significant events which have occurred in both Pamirs, changes which are illustrative of Kyrgyz politics and which will greatly affect the future ofthis community.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 225-242). Also available online in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2004.
Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 171-180). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

This multi-method study is about small-scale illegal production of hashish in a mountainous village in north-eastern part of Kyrgyzstan. It demonstrates that drug production in Toolu is the result of a combination of factors: 1) economic transformations undertaken during the 1990s in most of the post-Soviet countries and the difficult conditions under which the agricultural mountainous economy operated as a result; 2) the legitimation of hashish making by drug producing community due to perceived injustice towards people who had to survive without any state support while the elite was corrupted and governance of drug control was inconsistent; and 3) the integration of illegal hashish production to the local economy and culture. My findings derive from extensive fieldwork based on a case study of Toolu village, located in the Tyup region of Issyk-Kul oblast. I spent nine months in Tyup, between 2009 and 2010 undertaking a mixed method study in which I collected sixty semi-structured interviews with farmers, two interviews with the representatives of law enforcement, made a participant observation of farmer’s livelihoods, and conducted a survey of 147 households. The study fills the gap in the drug market literature by presenting the case of hashish production that started as an economic necessity but was pushed into the sphere of traditional and cultural practices that helped the local population to legitimate this illegal activity. It further contributes to the debate on drug markets presenting the drug producers as farmers that deal with the economic, social and political issues as any other citizens of the country. Hashish production was not part of the agricultural activities of the local population of the region during Soviet times but became one of a number of strategies for survival and later one of the entrepreneurial diversifications of income generating strategies. Farmers had to become entrepreneurial and diversify their income to overcome the problems encountered with farm insolvency due to the neoliberalization of the economy. However, as farmers were not part of any organized groups they needed to legitimate their illegal activity. I argue that this was possible through claiming that they had a right to subsistence and right to protection from the state, which was denied to them follwoing the collapse of Soviet Union. My case study also demonstrates that cases of corruption among elites deepened the distrust of the state, and lack of governance of drug production by law enforcement contributed further to the legitimation of illegal hashish production. The moral economy of hashish production would not be possible without adopting some informal control mechanisms to drug producers. I also argue that due to local demands to be part of the community, hashish is also used as a source of support. My findings provide detailed discussion of the use of drug money in enriching and maintaining the social community. Overall, this ethnographic study of hashish production in one of the regions of Kyrgyzstan provides rich details of how illegal hashish economy contributes to the legal agricultural economy and culture in the post-Soviet region.

This study uses two survey data - one conducted in Kyrgyzstan and another in the United States - to examine the effect of familial responsibilities, cultural expectations and tradition in Kyrgyzstan on young adults' decision to marry a foreigner. It predicted there would be certain gender and ethnic differences in migration of 18 to 30 years old young adults, citizens of Kyrgyzstan. Two assumptions were explored: 1) females, more than males, would like to marry a foreigner and stay in a foreign country and 2) Russian, more than Turkic respondents would like to stay in a foreign country if they found a mate who was a foreigner. These differences were expected due to contrasting familial responsibilities of females versus males and Russian versus Turkic young people. Familial responsibilities did not explain the gender and ethnic differences in marriage migration. The gender variable suggests further investigation whereas the ethnic differences show a stronger effect on the marriage migration. Russians, more than Turkic young adults, wanted to marry a foreigner since they wanted to emigrate from Kyrgyzstan eventually and did not want to return.
Department of Sociology

This thesis is a study of interethnic relationships between the ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz on the eastern edge of the Ferghana Valley, the cross-border zone between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, from independence to 2005. It argues that strong ethnic tension between the ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz was present during 'the Yellow Revolution' and the Andijan massacre in that year. The economically dominant ethnic Uzbeks in southern Kyrgyzstan played a role in initiating the opposition due to ongoing political marginalization by the government, while the opposition appealed to Kyrgyz ethno-nationalism and failed to draw wider political support from the Uzbeks or other minorities. As a result, there the ethnic minorities' lines were divided into pro-Akaev and pro-Revolution group. In the case of the Andijan massacre, the Uzbek government, after the arrival of the Uzbek asylum seekers into Kyrgyzstan territory on the eastern edge of the Ferghana Valley, had stirred latent fears amongst local Kyrgyz through their propaganda broadcasting. The economically marginalized ethnic Kyrgyz on the Kyrgyzstan side of the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border on the eastern edge of the Ferghana Valley had subsequently turned against the refugees and the tension was not alleviated until the refugees were moved to Romania by UNHCR. Both cases exhibit that the ethnic tension between these titular ethnic groups has deeper roots, which could be taken back to the pre-1991 Soviet era. A range of dynamics affect interethnic relations: (1) the potential for harmonious relations between the ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz has been reduced by the rise of 'pure Uzbek' and 'pure Kyrgyz' ethnic-nationalism among these two ethnic communities in their newly created states; (2) a new economic aspect of the ethnic tension has arisen since 1991 in both eastern Uzbekistan and southern Kyrgyzstan as a result of the ethnic Uzbeks dominating the local economy in southern Kyrgyzstan; and (3) clan networks have strongly influenced the flow of post-independence politics. The revival of Islam and fundamentalist and radical ideologies, before and after independence had added complexity to the ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz relationships in the Ferghana Valley. Initially democratic nationalists and Islamic nationalists shared some goals, but this commonality faded as Islamic groups became to be seen as a critic and a threat to the Uzbek government and were subsequently banned. The ethnic Uzbeks express more religiosity than the ethnic Kyrgyz, while the majority of the supporters of Islamic fundamentalism and radicalism are the Uzbeks and a smaller number of ethnic Kyrgyz supporters. The failure of post-independence economic transitions of both countries have deepened rural poverty in eastern Uzbekistan and southern Kyrgyzstan, and gradually created collective poverty on the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border zone on the eastern edge of the Ferghana Valley. The ethnic Kyrgyz have been victimized by the deepening rural poverty on both sides of the border. As a result, creation of 'poorer Kyrgyz' vs. 'richer Uzbeks' dynamic has sharpened the conflict between these two ethnicities.

The present Master's thesis seeks to evaluate a business plan of Start-up Company in apparel industry. The purpose of the paper is to determine the acceptability of an introduced project. As a starting point, the theoretical part elaborates indispensable principles of the business plan providing the fundamentals for further work. Since the project is taking place in another country, the second part describes its macro-environmental factors including the analysis of essential aspects of apparel industry. Finally, the last part provides the concrete business plan, the results of which adduce a possible acceptance of the project.

The recent political and fiscal crises in Kyrgyzstan offer a good opportunity to rethink the objectives and the direction of tax reform. The tax system of the Kyrgyz Republic has changed substantially since 1991 including a shift of the tax structure towards indirect taxation, reduction in a number of taxes, and drastic decrease in tax rates. The thesis aims to identify and describe the main factors influencing tax reform in Kyrgyzstan during the first decades of transition to a market economy using important theoretical model of public management reform. So, it will critically review the applicability of a Pollitt-Bouckaert’s model in this context and implications for how the model could be adapted to fit the tax reform process in post-Soviet transition countries. Accomplishment of these goals would require a multiple methods approach based on the assumption that collecting diverse types of data sequentially in the embedded single-case study will provide more complete understanding of research questions than either quantitative or qualitative data alone. For the study of tax reform, the quantitative data are subjected to time-series analysis of the embedded units while the qualitative interviews remain critical in explaining the main proposition central to the entire case study. The study starts with the theoretical assumption that the factors identified in the model have significant effect on tax reform process. This basic proposition – the impact of socio-economic forces, political changes, administrative system, elite’s decisions, and chance events on the reform process – will be traced for each factor in ‘within-country’ explanatory case study. The fundamental part of this thesis is the Pollitt and Bouckaert’s model of public management reform, which will provide a framework for discussion of the main forces influencing the reform process. As a diagram of main factors of the public sector reform, this model will be further adapted and modified for tax reform purposes. However, the direction of tax reform in the Kyrgyz Republic cannot be understood completely without a good knowledge of the main legacies of the Soviet Union, the cultural and institutional features of centralized planning system, which have left a long-lasting impact on trajectory of the economic and political development in the country. Therefore, the model proposed by Pollitt and Bouckaert does not include other forces, which have substantial impact on reform. In particular, it needs to take more account of significant importance of the development partners in tax reform process.

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2009.
Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains vi, 107 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 61-64).

This dissertation aims to uncover the main parameters, the decisive dynamics within Kyrgyz politics not only through an examination of the socio-political context of post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan, but also through an analysis of the events that came to be known as the &lsquo
Tulip Revolution&rsquo
. It examines the general and immediate contexts, course of events, dynamics and implications of the &lsquo
Tulip Revolution&rsquo
in order to understand what kind of dynamics account for the continuing instability in Kyrgyzstan in its aftermath. Despite a variety of factors can be considered as relevant, this study argues that the continuity in the decisive role of informal dynamics in shaping Kyrgyz politics accounts for the continuing instability in Kyrgyz politics. Bases of the informal dynamics are embedded in Kyrgyzstan&rsquo
s historical context and they are strengthened by its transitional context
they played decisive roles in shaping the course of events during the &lsquo
Tulip Revolution&rsquo
and their decisive role remained as such in its aftermath. Not only various developments in Bakiev era, but also the events that led to the end of it provide reinforcing evidence for such continuity. Hence, the &lsquo
Tulip Revolution&rsquo
did not bring about an &lsquo
impetus for democratization&rsquo
, but indicated to an &lsquo
impetus for the decisive role of informal dynamics&rsquo
in shaping Kyrgyz politics, which paves the way for the persistent instability in the country.

Afin d'estimer les potentialités des sédiments lacustres à enregistrer la sismicité dans le temps et l'espace, différentes archives sont étudiées : remplissages endokarstiques, dépôts lacustres anciens exondés et récents en fond de lacs actuels. Ces recherches sont entreprises dans les cadres sismotectoniques des Alpes et du Tien-Shan. Différents types de perturbations synsédimentaires attribuables à des séismes, selon le type de sédiment et d'environnement de sédimentation, peuvent ainsi être distingués et corrélés, dans certains cas, à des séismes historiques. La Grotte " Sous les Sangle " (Ain, France) montre que I'endokarst peut être favorable à ce type d'étude, pour le Pléistocène notamment. Plusieurs petits lacs alpins d'altitude à proximité de l'épicentre du séisme historique (1905) d'Emosson (Alpes, Suisse) sont étudiés. lis montrent deux types de sédimentation, dont un semble favorable à l'enregistrement des phénomènes sismiques, mais aussi climatiques, majeurs. Dans le lac d'Anterne, sur deux siècles de sédimentation échantillonnée, les quatre plus gros séismes régionaux sont enregistrés sous forme de dépôts caractéristiques. Une corrélation entre l'épaisseur de ces dépôts, la magnitude macrosismique et la distance à l'épicentre est proposée, permettant d'entrevoir une méthode de localisation et d'estimation des paléo séismes antéhistoriques. Le bassin tectonique lacustre d'Issyk-Koul (Kirghizstan), étudié à l'affleurement, par sismique réflexions et carottages, présente des indices sédimentaires de paléo sismicité, à terre (séismites) et en fond de lac sous forme de dépôts de type homogénite L'un d'eux est reconstitué par un modèle numérique d'écoulement d'avalanche. Il apparait cependant que les plus forts séismes historiques régionaux ne sont pas tous enregistrés. Les relations entre sismicité et sédimentation lacustre sont ainsi précisées, permettant de définir les conditions propices aux études de paléo sismicité par les archives lacustres.

碩士
臺北醫學大學
全球衛生暨發展碩士學位學程
101
In low- and middle- income countries the trend of improving health care has been similar; however, due to the economic situations of these countries, their progresses are not as large. Therefore, external funding has played an important role in these countries in trying to reduce their burden of disease. Many developed countries (United States and European etc.) and international organizations (World Bank and President''s Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief (US PEPFAR etc.) have helped these countries in their improvements and the study finalized two categories of these funding for comparison purposes, they are multilateral organizations and Development Assistance Committee (DAC), which is a forum for selected OECD member states. The study collected the data of health status and health financing for seventeen years (1995-2011) for Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia in order to determine the differences and similarities of external funding on health and the major health status between the three Asian countries. All three countries received many projects and activities from various donors in the seventeen years studied. Two countries, Mongolia and Kyrgyz Republic at the beginning of the study in 1995, received external funds mainly for basic health care needs. Between 2000 and 2005 external funds were provided for improvement of health sectors and health education, especially for the policy and administration and management. In Kazakhstan, in 1995, external funding was geared toward health education, health policy and administration & management. Mongolia, Kyrgyz republic and Kazakhstan’s life styles were strongly related to their mortality rate that means those country need more health education, public health support and human resources improvement than direct capital investment. Effective measures are important when using external funding on health in developing country.

Sacred sites in Ysyk-Köl area of Kyrgyzstan represent areas of land and bodies of water which are spiritually and culturally meaningful for local people. The present study mapped about 130 sacred sites, which are conserved-through-use by local communities and represent traditional model of conservation. The entire territory of Ysyk-Köl region is a formal protected area as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Thus, sacred sites, as traditional model of community conserved area, are embedded in the formal government-run Biosphere Reserve. The study scrutinizes how these two models of conservation (sacred sites and the Biosphere Reserve) co-exist in the same territory and interact with each other. Results indicate that these two models are parallel. However, recognition of sacred sites can improve formal conservation by: a) providing a complementary culture-based set of incentives for conservation, b) fostering a biocultural approach, and c) serving as a communication hub for YKBR managers and local communities.
February 2016

archives@tulane.edu
Post-Soviet countries in Central Asia are imprinted by a unique historical legacy which continually complicate their development choices. This is a case study of post-Soviet development, as seen through the lens of the Kyrgyz Republic. The Kyrgyz Republic has faced repeated shocks and experienced transitory periods of food insecurity in the recent past. To understand these development phenomena, this research mixed quantitative and qualitative components in a multi-phase design to examine seasonal aspects of staple food price spikes and the impact of dominant Kyrgyz livelihood activities. Concentric elements of Sustainable Livelihoods approaches, New Economics of Labor Migration, and Sustainable Human Development provided a theoretical base for investigation. Phase I examined staple food price patterns and available Kyrgyz household-level survey data via quantitative analysis for links to seasonal periods of transitory food insecurity. Phase II used qualitative surveys and profiles collected within Kyrgyz staple food markets to include multiple perspectives and aid interpretation. Research findings related a need for greater inclusion in Kyrgyz household survey data, resulting in a recommendation to improve targeting of existing survey efforts in ex-urban areas with growing populations of internal migrants. Research findings also pointed to potentially expanding frequency of collection, in order to capture seasonal elements of Kyrgyz livelihood activities currently not reflected in publicly available household level data. Research conclusions discuss potential mechanisms to increase participation in development policy formation at local and regional levels to lower costs and improve the quality of implementation.
1
Michael Heaney

The Kyrgyz are a Mongolian, Turkic ethno-linguistic people group. The political and social changes of the post-soviet times have led to a great religious openness among the Kyrgyz. Within one decade the nunber of Kyrgyz Christians has grown from few dozens to over 3000. The intention of this work was to analyze the conversion process of the Kyrgyz converts to Christianity and to apply the results to further missiological activity. The religious background of the Kyrgyz, which is heavily influenced by Folk Islam, was presented in the first chapter of the paper. In the second chapter, interviews collected from Kyrgyz Christians were evaluated. The third chapter summarizes the most important findings of the work and makes them applicable for missionary work. The precise knowledge of the religious background of the Kyrgyz and intercultural communication that it is based upon it can essentially dismantle barriers for the acceptance of the gospel.
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
M. Th. (Missiology)

碩士
元智大學
企業管理學系
97
According to the definition adopted by the European Small Hydropower Association (ESHA) and the European Commission and the International Union of Producers and Distributors of Electricity (UNIPEDE), small hydro power station (SHP) is defined as any small scheme with an installed capacity up to 10 MW. There is no international consensus on the definition of SHP. In China, it can refer to capacities of up to 25 MW, in India up to 15 MW. However, a capacity of up to 10 MW total is generally becoming accepted in Europe and supported by ESHA and the European Commission. (European Renewable Energy Council, 2007). Small hydropower belongs to non-carbon clean energy. Small hydro projects are characterized by small construction scale, short construction period, and fast return on investment. The proper exploitation of small hydropower is of great economic benefit to mountainous regions, and to environmental protection. (X. B. Zhang and T. Ma, 2004) I decided to do research on the role of the small hydro power industry in the energy sector of the economy of Kyrgyz Republic, because Kyrgyzstan has 142 billion kWh/ year potential and only 10 % of this potential is utilized. For example, our neighbor country Tajikistan has a hydro power potential of 530 billion kWh/ year and utilizes only 10%, and among post Soviet Union countries Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have the biggest hydro power potential after Russia. And we are having electricity shortage problems, because of the mismanagement by our governments of the electricity industry; also little research was done on this area. So, this industry needs serious research and suggestions to solve the problems we are facing. The main purpose of this research is to explore the problems in the energy industry, especially electricity industry by focusing on the small hydro power industry. And work out the solution for the development of the small hydro power industry in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Maternal mortality in Kyrgyzstan is a discrimination of women not only based on sex, but also on rural/urban setting. Rural women are most likely to die of haemorrhage than urban women in Kyrgyzstan. Postpartum haemorrhage constitutes 45 per cent of all maternal deaths in Kyrgyzstan. This work concentrates on the obligations of Kyrgyzstan under articles 12 and 14.b of the Convention on Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The work analyses the nature and scope of state obligations under respective articles. Kyrgyzstan has obligations to respect, protect and fulfill rural women’s human rights to address discriminations against rural women, provide appropriate health services and ensure availability and accessibility of misoprostol to rural women. Misoprostol is more suitable to the conditions of rural area than traditionally used oxytocin. Therefore, the availability and accessibility of rural women to misoprostol will prevent avoidable maternal deaths in haemorrhage.

This dissertation analyzes the adoption of neoliberal economic policies in the wake of two shocks, the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Color Revolutions. I look at whether policy choices in the aftermath of massive political change significantly constrain future economic policy. Two arguments have attempted to explain post-Soviet economic reform, one arguing that initial elections largely determined economic reform, and another arguing that even the results of initial elections were conditioned by a state's neighbors and diffusion. In the first chapter I test these arguments, using regression analysis to update and reanalyze determinants of economic reform in post-Soviet Eurasia. My results indicate that initial elections may have been influential in the short term, but their influence is indirect. Instead, the Soviet collapse created an opening for the establishment of patronage dynamics, and it is these dynamics that largely determine the timing of economic reform. I then use three cases to illustrate why early evaluations of post-Soviet economic reforms need revision. Analysis of Georgia, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan after each shock demonstrates that elites and political institutions are important determinants of reforms, and there is significant variation in neoliberal policy adoption that previous arguments do not explain. I find that economic policy mirrors political cycles of patronalism in these countries and the effects of shocks on policy are not straightforward. When economic reform does occur, it is often an instrument used to advance other political goals.

In August 1916, the native nomads of southern Semirechye rose in a popular rebellion that reduced the colonial presence in the region to several beleaguered towns and settlements. While the rebellion claimed over 3,000 victims in the settler society, the punitive actions of the authorities led to a far greater loss of life among the native communities. Beyond the loss of life, the uprising had much broader implications. The decimation of the nomadic population, which had shrunk to less than two thirds of its pre-rebellion level, and the plans of the government to resettle the remaining nomads in the geographically isolated and resource poor area of Naryn suggest that the administration came to view the rebels as a potential threat not only to the well-being of the settlers, but also to the integrity and security of the colony at large. The rebellion had in effect engendered long-standing concerns among the Russian military and statesmen about the ability of the metropole to protect its borderlands and maintain sovereignty in the ethnically and religiously “alien” regions. Indeed, the then military governor of Semirechye, General Fol’baum, framed the rebellion in the strictly state-centred terms: “the situation” he said of the rebellion “could change so suddenly that the entire Russian enterprise will come to ruin in Semirechye.” Placing the uprising of 1916 and the region of Semirechye, where the uprising was at its most violent, at the heart of the broader political history of Russian imperialism, this thesis examines the forms and strategies of state-building in the colonial context. Semirechye’s frontier position – on the border with the Qing Empire – and its ethnic diversity make it an ideal region from which to study the relationship between the centre and the periphery. At the same time, treating the uprising of 1916 as a point of rupture, which had ushered in the “continuum of crisis” that engulfed the Russian Empire during World War I and determined, to a considerable extent, the course and content of the early Soviet policies in the region, allows us to understand how certain conceptions of nationality became central to questions of state security and sovereignty. Substantively, this study traces the political history of Semirechye from the early years of conquest and colonization in the second half of the 19th century until the beginning of World War II, which the region entered as a part of the Kyrgyz Soviet Socialist Republic. Organized around the cross-cutting themes of empire, state, and nation, this thesis advances the key proposition – that sovereign power is predicated on the control of territory and population. Crucially, this study demonstrates that both the imperial and later Soviet state sought to impose and consolidate its power over the region’s landscape and peoples through the establishment and use of institutions, policies, and practices targeted at the management and supervision of Semirechye’s natural and human resources. Furthermore, by arguing that both governments sought to fashion popular loyalties, create a productive labour force, and develop the economy for the purposes of national defence, this thesis highlights the critical continuities between the imperial and Soviet practices and ideas in governing the region. By examining Semirechye as a zone of state formation, this thesis also illuminates the critical nexus of state-building and control over natural resources and foregrounds the relationship of asymmetry and dependence between the centre and the periphery accomplished through the seizure of the region’s vital resources – namely agricultural land and livestock. In order to develop these arguments, the thesis draws upon approaches from history, political science, and anthropology. Based on archival research, this study contributes to current debates on colonialism and state formation. Drawing attention to the security rationale of the state-sponsored programmes of nation-building, such as the national delimitation and the policies of indigenization, implemented by the Soviet administration, this study offers a departure from the long-standing view of ideology as the primary engine of the state-led national construction in Central Asia. Instead, this thesis argues that the “affirmative action” principles of the early Soviet regime were grounded in the efforts of the government to mobilize resources of the region to maintain the regime’s internal and external security. Consequently, the harmonization of the Soviet and ethnic affiliations under the rubric of Soviet nations allowed the Bolshevik leadership both to enforce the boundaries of the state and to mobilize the indigenous population for the task of nation and state-building.

Summaries in German and English
This thesis is a missiological case study analysing the reasons for conversions to Islam and Christianity among Kyrgyz people in post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan. The Kyrgyz people have a rich religious heritage with a history of more than 2,200 years. The uprooting of religion and the atheistic indoctrination by the Soviet government created a religious vacuum after the breakdown of the Soviet Union and caused a revival of religious receptivity in the society. Renewed receptivity to religion in the newly established sovereign Kyrgyzstan was followed by a rise in religious activity of Muslims and Christians beginning in the late 20th century. In only 15 years the number of mosques rose from 39 to 1,600 and the number of professing Christians increased from a few dozen to more than 7,000. This change between 1990 and 2005 developed in three stages through religious instability, an increase in missionary activity and the posturing of religious ideology during the government’s democratization process. A research of individual conversions produced complex results. Muslims were more attune to traditional religious thinking than were Christians. Most Muslims committed themselves to Islam because of their ancestral heritage. The secularization of society facilitated the Kyrgyz to convert to Christianity and turn to Christ due to a crisis in personal identity. Among Christians, conversions were primarily affected by relatives and friends persuading them through testimony and example. Most Kyrgyz becoming Muslims were significantly influenced by their parents. Faith in the existence of God was the basic prerequisite for both Muslim and Christian commitment to their respective beliefs. For Muslims it meant to obey the commandments of Allah, but Christians were led to confession of sins and to conversion. Changes in lifestyles and mindsets Muslims traced back to the Islamic religious tradition. For Christians, lives were affected through a relationship to Jesus Christ.
Die vorliegende Thesis ist eine missiologische Fallstudie, die die Gruinde der Hinwendung der Kyrgyzen in der post-sovietischen Zeit zum Islam und Christentum untersucht. Die Kyrgyzen haben ein reiches religioses Erbe einer uber 2200 jahrigen Geschichte. Doch mit der religiosen, Entwurzelung und der atheistischen Indoktrination durch die Sovietregierung entwickelte sich nach dem Zusammenbruch der Sovietunion ein religioses ,Vakuum" und bewirkten ein Wiedererwachen der religiosen Rezeptivitat in der Gesellschaft. Aufgrund der neuen religiosen Rahmenbedingungen in dem seit 1991 souveranen Kyrgyzstan folgte vonseiten der Muslime und Christen ein starker Anstieg religioser Aktivitaten. In nur 15 Jahren stieg die Anzahl der registrierten Moscheen von 39 auf uber 1600 und die Anzahl der Christen im gleichen Zeitraum von ein paar Dutzend auf uber 7000. Diese Entwicklung verlief im Zeitraum von 1990 bis 2005 in drei Abschnitten und war gekennzeichnet von anfanglichen religiosen Aufbruchen, einer Zunahme missionarischer Aktivitaten und einer religiosen Positionierung im Demokratiesierungsprozess. Die Untersuchung der individuell erlebten Hinwendungen brachte vielschichtige Ergebnisse hervor. So war der farmiliare Hintergrund der Muslime im allgemeinen religioser als der der Christen. Die meisten Muslime bekannten sich aufgrund ihrer Abstammung zum Islam. Die Sakularisierung der Familien begunstigte die Hinwendung der Kyrgyzen zum Christentum, die sich vor allem aufgrund einer existenziellen Auseinandersetzung zu Jesus wandten. Bei Christen waren es vor allem Verwandte und Freunde, die mit Worten und Leben auf Jesus hinwiesen, bei Muslimen die Eltern. Sowohl bei Muslimen als auch Christen war der Glaube an die Exitenz Gottes die wesentliche Vorraussetzung, wobei dies die Muslime zur Befolgung der Gebote Allahs, Christen zur Sundenerkenntnis und einer Bekehrung bewegte. Eine Lebens- und Sinnesanderung fuhrten Muslime auf den Islam und Christen auf ihre Beziehung zu Jesus Christus zuruck.
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
D. Th. (Missiology)

The Kyrgyz are a Mongolian, Turkic ethno-linguistic people group. The political and social changes of the post-soviet times have led to a great religious openness among the Kyrgyz. Within one decade the nunber of Kyrgyz Christians has grown from few dozens to over 3000. The intention of this work was to analyze the conversion process of the Kyrgyz converts to Christianity and to apply the results to further missiological activity. The religious background of the Kyrgyz, which is heavily influenced by Folk Islam, was presented in the first chapter of the paper. In the second chapter, interviews collected from Kyrgyz Christians were evaluated. The third chapter summarizes the most important findings of the work and makes them applicable for missionary work. The precise knowledge of the religious background of the Kyrgyz and intercultural communication that it is based upon it can essentially dismantle barriers for the acceptance of the gospel.
Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology
M. Th. (Missiology)