Sapurmurat Niyazov, the Kim Jong-il of Central Asia, left quite a legacy: a crumbling infrastructure, egregious human rights abuses, rumors of mass starvation outside the capital, and a personality cult capped by a funny name. Turkmenbashi, the father of all Turkmen, left some pretty big shoes to fill when he died last December. As a result, Gurbanguli Berdymuhkammedov, Turkmenistan's second dictator and the world's most powerful dentist, faces some serious choices. The first is how closely he'll stick to his election promise of keeping Niyazov's policies in place. There are many encouraging signs that President Berdymuhkammedov will open his country to the outside world. Already, Berdymuhkammedov has reversed some of the more puzzling of Niyazov's zany policies. Compulsory education has been extended to ten years (before it was cut to nine); the Internet is becoming more available; and there is even open talk of a real multiparty democracy.
The New Turkmenistan: A Strategic Energy Opportunity
