Much of the analysis concerning the Collective Security Treaty Organization neglects significant internal dynamics and perpetuates organizational myths.

As the new school year kicked off on September 1, some 35 ethnic Uzbek children attending the Cholpon school in the district of Kara-Suu in southern Kyrgyzstan began their studies in a whole new language -- Kyrgyz.

Twenty years ago, an attempted coup took place in Moscow as a last-ditch effort to save the Soviet Union. The coup collapsed within three days, ironically speeding up the demise of the Soviet Union and paving the way for Soviet republics to gain independence. RFE/RL speaks to Central Asian politicians about how they remember the events of August 19-21, 1991.

Two decades after the fall of the Soviet Union, its successor states encompass squeaky clean Scandinavian-style democracies like Estonia, autocratic despotisms like Uzbekistan -- and everything in between. Is it even possible to speak of a coherent "post-Soviet space" anymore?

Many of the problems that plague Central Asia are a result of neighbors who see each other more as rivals than allies. But institutions like the OSCE Academy in Bishkek are trying to reverse that trend by providing rigorous educations for future politicians, entrepreneurs, and civil-society workers, while also encouraging them to think beyond their national borders to the Eurasian region overall.

While some of our correspondent's 10 picks for most influential women in Central Asia have risen to the top solely on their merits, there are more than a few whose family ties have paved the way to success.

Malnutrition is taking its toll in Kyrgyzstan, where it is responsible for one-quarter of the deaths of children under the age of 5. Poverty, lack of education and health care, and the fallout from food and financial crises all contribute to the problem.