Zbigniew Brzezinski - Jose Saramago - Ed Markey - Simon Reeve TV - Stacey Dooley TV -
Uzbekistan – with its much more ethnically homogenous population of approximately 25 million and its leaders emphasising the country’s historic glories – has become increasingly assertive in affirming the region’s new post-colonial status. Zbigniew Brzezinski, The Grand Chessboard
The US needs to control the Middle East, the gateway to Asia. It already has military installations in Uzbekistan. Jose Saramago
In Uzbekistan, hundreds of protesters were recently killed under the corrupt regime of President Karimov in what human rights groups are calling a massacre. Ed Markey
Central Asia: Once part of the Soviet Union. It’s a region dominated by oil, Islam and enough radioactive waste to terrify the West. China, Russia and China are all vying for power here. The countries are strategically vital and they’re all called Stan. Simon Reeve: Holidays in the Danger Zone: Meet the Stans: Kazakhstan & Kyrgyzstan, BBC 2003
The future of central Asia lies in these vast oil and gas reserves – the largest untapped energy reserves on the planet. ibid.
Uzbekistan is the most repressive of the countries we’ve visited. It is run like a feudal system. Simon Reeve: Holidays in the Danger Zone: Meet the Stans: Uzbekistan & Tajikistan
Uzbekistan produces many champions of Graeco-Roman wrestling. ibid.
Arbitrary borders have left lasting tensions between the new states. ibid.
Uzbekistan: These dust storms are so vast they can be seen from space. They contain huge quantities of pesticides that have been washed into the Aral from the cotton farms and left on the seabed. Stacey Dooley: Fashion’s Hidden Secrets, BBC 2018