Revolution, Murder, and Intrigue in Post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan
Restless Valley has the makings of a gripping thriller: revolutions, massacres, civil war, drug-smuggling, brazen corruption, contract hits, and larger-than-life characters who may be villains or heroes or, possibly, both. Yet the new book is not a novel.
Author Philip Shishkin, a prize-winning journalist with extensive on-the-ground experience in the tumultuous region above Afghanistan’s northern border, writes about the challenges Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have faced in their post-Soviet independent statehood. Both became entangled in America’s Afghan campaign when U.S. military bases were established within their borders. At the same time, the region was developing into a key smuggling hub for Afghanistan’s booming heroin trade.
Shishkin discusses his account of Central Asia’s unfolding history from 2005 to the present in conversation with political scientist Alex Cooley. Listen above.
