ABSTRACT
This chapter reveals that the 'island of democracy' tag was always a misnomer and that more recent events, including a so-called democratic revolution that earned support from the United States, only continued disturbing trends within Kyrgyzstan that can only do harm in the bigger picture of eliminating the causes of radical Islamism. The 'island of democracy' title was bestowed initially upon Akaev not so much for there ever being a commitment to true democratic development but instead for supposedly launching quick liberalization programs that opened Kyrgyzstan up to foreign corporations. Akaev's 'managed democracy' had become burdened by its own internal contradictions and blatant disregard for freedom and liberty. The chapter documents how such disregard and contradiction was advantageous to the rise of a new kind of Islamic fundamentalism in the Ferghana Valley: one that was transnational in structure and international in its aims.
