Stories about Uzbekistan from July, 2006
Uzbekistan: Revoked Licenses
The Long and Winding Road has a report on Uzbek pop musicians losing their licenses to perform in public after a journalist accused their lyrics of not being authentic Uzbek poetry and them of being bad musicians.
Uzbekistan: Privatization
Ben Paarmann discusses plans for land privatization in Uzbekistan that, he says, will not likely do much to improve the economic situation in the country as it will not include the privatization of agricultural land.
Uzbekistan & Turkmenistan: Langston Hughes
Breed discusses the first reissue of Langston Hughes's 1934 book on his trip to Soviet Central Asia. The book was first published in 1934 and the reprint was created from the only copy known to still exist.
Uzbekistan: Returning to Andijon
Registan.net discusses the voluntary return of Uzbek refugees who had fled the country after last year's violence in Andijon.
Central Asia: Eurasian Islam
Ataman Rakim argues for a Eurasian Islam that would unite Muslims of the former Soviet Union under a common identity and serve not so much as a formal set of religious and political ideas but instead as a catalyst for social initiatives.
Uzbekistan: Happy Uzbeks
James explores how to explain the happiness of Uzbekistan's citizens despite the host of problems they face. Could it be relatively equal income distribution?
Uzbekistan: Happy Planet
Ben Paarmann reports on Uzbekistan's fairly high rank on the Happy Planet Index. He notes that Uzbekistan's score (as well as those of neighboring Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan) are not a result of government policies though.
Uzbekistan: Civil Society
Olesya translates a post about NGOs in Uzbekistan in which the author argues that the country's NGOs should not be surprised to find themselves in their current situation because of mistakes they made in the past that have weakened them relative to the government.
Uzbekistan: Bad & Good
Registan.net reports bad news from Uzbekistan, while neweurasia reports some good news.
