The Foreign Service Journal, February 2003

Helping Central Asia In the November issue of the FSJ , Alex Rasizade’s article, “The Specter of A New ‘Great Game’ in Central Asia” proposed three challenges for the U.S., including “promotion of meaningful economic development” and “staying engaged in the region for the long haul.” As for economic devel- opment, however, Rasizade questions the choice of large infrastructure pro- jects as proposed at the Tokyo confer- ence in January 2002, or a “Marshall Plan” approach. The focus, he said, should be on small businesses and vil- lage-level agriculture. Having had long-term experience as a USAID employee (including stints as USAID director for Uganda and Tanzania) and as a State Department assistant secretary dur- ing the Carter administration, I agree with Rasizade’s challenges to the U.S. I also agree that a “Marshall Plan” approach to aiding Central Asia has little validity. In postwar Europe, the scientists, skilled technicians, financiers, entrepreneurs, etc., though battered, were nonetheless in place and, when they were assisted with U.S. capital, the economic recovery was spectacular. In Central Asia, on the other hand, such an eco- nomic base is lacking, so creating one must be part and parcel of the nation- building process. My real doubt about Rasizade’s ideas and USAID’s development pro- jects, however, is their limited hold on nation-building. For example, who is to foster improvement in vil- lage-level agriculture, and with vil- lages numbering in the thousands, what will be the measure of success? But my greatest concern is with USAID’s emphasis on humanitarian and construction projects as its main approach to nation-building. Although such projects are indeed necessary, initially they represent a financial cost. For success, foreign assistance to Central Asia must continue until host countries can generate their own skills, revenue and foreign exchange (no matter how long). Otherwise, as past U.S. aid efforts show, if econom- ic support is underbudgeted, and biased toward projects with limited economic growth potential, the long- term outcome will not be nation- building, but continuing economic stagnation, acres of rusty and broken- down foreign equipment, abandoned laboratories and classrooms, impass- able rural roads, and counter-charges of who is to blame. Vernon C. Johnson USAID, retired Silver Spring, Md. The “Great Game” Revisited I enjoyed reading Alec Rasizade’s article, “The Specter of a New ’Great Game’ in Central Asia” in the November FSJ , but his misuse of the word “coined” in his opening para- graph might mislead readers who are not familiar with the history of “the Great Game.” In fact, Rudyard Kipling did not originate that term, but merely popularized it. The phrase was actually coined by Captain Arthur Conolly of the 6th Bengal Native Light Cavalry. Nor were Kipling and Conolly even con- temporaries; Captain Conolly, a Great Game player himself, died in 1842, while Kipling was born in 1865. Historian Peter Hopkirk, in his book The Great Game , details the executions by beheading of Captain Conolly and Colonel Charles Stoddart, both British Army officers, in the great square of Bokhara, in June 1842. As Hopkirk states in his prologue: “Ironically, it was Conolly himself who had first coined the phrase ‘the Great Game,’ although it was Kipling who was to immortalize it many years later in his novel Kim .” Later in the book, Hopkirk notes that Conolly “first coined this memorable phrase in a letter to a friend.” Pamela J. Anderson Dhaka, Bangladesh Not Only Christians As I was stationed in Islamabad at the time of the attack on the Protestant International Church, I read with some interest the article by Jonathan Addleton in the November FSJ (“Reflections on the Church Attack in Islamabad”). I find it noteworthy that the article focuses on attacks on Christian institutions (churches, schools, hospitals). While it is certain- ly true that they were attacked, per- haps had Mr. Addleton not made his reflections from afar he would have also included mention of attacks on other institutions, some notable ones being Shia and Sunni mosques that were attacked presumably as part of the factional infighting that persists in Pakistan and the region. Just a fortnight before the attack on the PIC, some attackers entered a Shia mosque in Rawalpindi (just down the road) and gunned down a number of people. And one only need say “Gujarat” to bring to mind the mass violence Hindus and Muslims in neighboring India continue to inflict on each other. Though Christian and other “Western” institutions have received a lot of attention lately, it may be more objective to remember that such attention has been paid to other sec- tors of Pakistani society for a while. Though theWestern community often does not pay a lot of attention to local affairs in many countries, putting our ear to the ground once in a while may help us to put things in better per- spective. I hope that we can see the attack on the PIC in a broader context of both ongoing strife in Pakistan and the wider region, in which our foes directly or indirectly influence people of many stripes to take action against 8 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / F E B R U A R Y 2 0 0 3 L E T T E R S