ABSTRACT
The Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan) is the second smallest state of the Central Asian region. Geographically, it is squeezed between two giants (Kazakhstan to its north and China to its south-east) and shares a southern border with Tajikistan and a western border with Uzbekistan. Politically, it has become the scene of geopolitical competition between Russia and the United States, a subject of rapidly increasing Chinese infl uence, and a casualty of regional rivalry for leadership in Central Asia between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.
