Over the past 16 years the international community has gone from seeing the independence of the Central Asian states as primarily a source of security threats to regarding the region as potentially a real strategic prize, despite its proximity to Afghanistan and the seemingly endless civil war and internal confusion there. Much of the change in perception comes from increased knowledge of the region's energy reserves.

On November 21, the presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Georgia inaugurated the construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (B.T.K.) railway in Marabda, South Georgia. Linking Baku in Azerbaijan with Kars in eastern Turkey via Tbilisi in Georgia, the railway is scheduled to be completed in 2009-2010 and will transport goods, especially oil and passengers.

The death of President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan from heart failure was announced on 21 December 2006. His two decades in power bequeathed ruined education and public health sectors, a record of human rights abuses, thousands of political prisoners and an economy under strain despite rich energy exports. While official results are not expected to be announced for several days, there is little doubt they will show that his interim successor, Gurbanguly Berdimuhammedov, easily won the carefully choreographed presidential election on 11 February from which genuine regime opponents were excluded. The strategically important country is quiet for now,and Berdimuhammedov – partnered by the security strong man, Akmurat Rejepov – has promised limited reforms.

The worst political crisis in Timor-Leste’s short history is not over. The capital Dili, wracked by violence in April and May 2006, is relatively calm but tense, its streets patrolled by international forces. More than 100,000 people remain displaced, with a de facto curfew in place. Key members of the political elite are still at loggerheads.

Madam Chairwoman, Members of the Committee, it is a great honor to be invited once again to testify before you on U.S. interests in Central Asia and the challenges to them because Central Asia is an area whose importance to the United States is universally acknowledged to be growing. In 2004 Under Secretary of State Richard Armitage told Central Asians that “stability in the area is of paramount importance and vital national interest." Yet today American interests are under attack from three sides in Central Asia: Russia and China, the Taliban and their supporters, and the authoritarian misrule of Central Asian governments.