IU educates for freedom

As you read this, IU is working to promote democracy in a key strategic area for the 21st century. \nKyrgyzstan is a small country in central Asia. Since 1993, its capital, Bishkek, has been home to the American University-Central Asia. With 1,100 students and funding from the United States Agency for International Development and George Soros' Open Society Institute, AUCA is "the only genuinely American-style higher-education institution in the vast, impoverished region of Central Asia" (Chronicle of Higher Education, April 15). And for the last six years, IU has played a vital role in supporting AUCA via faculty exchanges, graduate training and now the management of its $15 million endowment.\nThrough involvement in AUCA, IU brings greater opportunities to locals who would have few otherwise, while providing a resource for students and faculty at IU's Department of Central Eurasian Studies. \nBut AUCA's chief purpose runs far beyond these goals: to train a new generation of leaders for Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia -- political, economic and societal figures who embrace democracy, human rights and market-driven development. It is hoped that these leaders will bring freedom, prosperity and stability to their region.\nThe challenge facing IU and the AUCA is great. From prehistory to the USSR's collapse, the population of Kyrgyzstan was dominated by Mongol invaders, Chinese emperors, Russian tsars and Soviet commissars -- absolute dictatorship was the only political tradition they ever knew. Seventy years under communism has left the economy badly underdeveloped, primarily agricultural and with an estimated per capita annual income of $1,600 in 2003 (CIA World Factbook, 2004). The government is mired in corruption, and its commitment to democratic principles remains uncertain at best.\nBut the costs of democracy's failure will be high for the people of Kyrgyzstan, the United States and the world. The country is resource-rich and close to global hot-spots Afghanistan, Iran and the India-Pakistan border. In shaping Kyrgyzstan's future, the United States is in a race with China, Russia and Turkey -- the latter two sponsor AUCA's competitors, the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavonic University and Manas Kyrgyz-Turkish University, respectively. \nPutting this back into human terms: The U.S. government might not practice your ideal foreign policy, but it emphasizes democracy and civil liberties much more than the others and provides access to the global economy. \nAlso, terrorist groups linked to al-Qaida stalk Central Asia trying to establish a new Taliban-style tyranny. Viable governments supported with education and partners like the United States should be much harder to overthrow. \nDespite so much uncertainty, there are signs of hope. In March, a popular movement overthrew the increasingly autocratic government of President Askar Akayev. And, poor as it is, the Kyrgyzstan's pro-market economic policies have resulted in GDP growth of 6.7 percent (CIA World Factbook, 2004).\nBy aiding the AUCA, IU not only supports the cause of liberty, it upholds the best of its own traditions. As Herman B Wells wrote in "Being Lucky," "for more than a century, the University has actively worked for the preservation and advancement of American democracy by the method that is peculiarly the university's own, namely, fearless inquiry into every subject in search of the truth ... ." \nIU continues Wells' legacy.