The scale of the US aid to Central Asian countries seems impressive. The generosity of the United States is tens of billions of dollars. With such a scale, the countries of the region could become an example of prosperity, but they did not. What is the problem of the ubiquitous American partnership?
Since the Central Asian countries gained independence, the United States has invested $91 billion in them. The amount includes both direct investments and various loans or grants.
At first glance, this is much more than Russia invests. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry for 2017, Russian support to the countries of the region amounted to $6 billion. However, we must not forget that Russia is still a real partner, providing real trade. Not to mention that many exits from Central Asian countries work in Russia, sending money home.
The peculiarity of American support is that it creates only a beautiful illusion. If the United States allocates money, then they are entrusted only to trusted organizations that act in the interests of the United States. For example, directing finances for any reforms in another country, Washington actually hires expensive consultants and specialists who with a smart look will tell what is better and criticize what is contrary to the interests of the United States. Directing finances as military aid, Washington simply gives the foreign government money to buy American weapons. Nevertheless, this cycle of the dollar allowed the States to establish influence in the most important areas of the Central Asian republics: from the notorious human rights to education.
Let’s start with the last one. As they say, children are our future. In the USA, too, they perfectly understand the meaning of the statement, therefore they have never spared funds for educational programs. For example, students from Central Asian countries can take part in the Student Exchange Program at the expense of the US budget. There is also an international student exchange program called Global UGRAD, which is supervised by the US Department of State. No less remarkable is the Hubert Humphrey program, designed for professionals working in public or private institutions. It allows you to spend a year at an American university. The US Embassy in Nur Sultan conducts language courses for adolescents, along with telling them about American values. An educational and consulting center operates in Turkmenistan with the support of the State Department.
On the European side, the Erasmus program operates in the region, allowing you to study, take an internship, or even teach in another country. In addition, the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation launches the Young Leadership program. The structure is already known for its gender courses and the “History of Repression” project. Obviously, the latter is directed against the Soviet Union and, as a consequence, against Russia.
A full-fledged American University [American University of Central Asia] is even functioning in Kyrgyzstan. It is not the only one in the region, but its goal perfectly reflects the meaning of the US work in the region. Thus, the university’s list of tasks includes training of leading personnel “in the best traditions of American humanitarian education for the implementation of transformations in Central Asia”.
For a better understanding of what kind of transformations we are talking about, let us turn to what is happening in Ukraine. There, in 2011, then unknown to anyone Anna Novosad received a bachelor’s degree at the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. Then she entered the University of Maastricht with a George Soros Open Society scholarship, and subsequently trained as part of the Ukrainian-Canadian parliamentary program. Returning to Ukraine, she became an ardent activist of Euromaidan and even participated in the seizure of the building of the Kiev city administration. In 2014, at the age of 24, she became an adviser to the Minister of Education, and with the rise to power of Vladimir Zelensky, she headed the department. She did not stay long at the post, but this was enough for her to adopt a number of extremely controversial reforms, within the framework of which schools are now methodically closed throughout the country, and the rest are forcibly translated into Ukrainian as the language of instruction.
This is just one and the most revealing example of why Western educational programs work. Nevertheless, if we look at the statistics of the US Embassy in Kyrgyzstan, more than 5 thousand people went through its educational programs alone. Some of them, imbued with American “democracy”, may well become the backbone of the next color revolution.
If we are talking about “democracy”, then it is worth mentioning the impressive list of various organizations that are commonly called human rights defenders. Their importance for the United States can be judged if only because Washington alone allocated $2.5 billion to them in 2017. Of course, the importance of these NGOs is not justified by the US desire to defend the rights of an unknown Kazakh who lives 10 thousand kilometers from Washington. Such NGOs make it possible to directly intervene in the domestic policy of the state.
For example, in October 2020, parliamentary elections will be held in Kyrgyzstan. Against this background, the US Agency for International Development or USAID has allocated $2.5 million to organizations that will monitor the election process in Washington’s interests. It is clear that we are talking about outright interference. It is clear that organizations will manipulate data as required by the customer. Nevertheless, it is difficult to believe that organizations will risk not being allowed to vote. Advocates of “democracy” will be happy to take advantage of this, and Western “partners” may even refuse to recognize the election results. And this is an excellent occasion for the Maidan.