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US Scholar Analyzes Challenges in Central Asia

“President Rahmon of Tajikistan, like other regional leaders, is caught between a rock and a hard place: he cannot indefinitely extract resources from the electricity sector while keeping tariffs low without sacrificing the long term sustainability of the sector,” writes 2010-11 US Embassy Policy Specialist Program (EPS) fellow Michael J. G. Cain in a recent article in The Washington Review of Turkish & Eurasian Affairs. In this article, Dr. Cain discusses the domestic and international challenges faced by the leadership of Tajikistan and other Central Asian countries in meeting their energy needs.

Michael J. G. Cain, of St. Mary's College of Maryland, served as a researcher-in-residence at the US Embassy in Dushanbe in the fall of 2010. Read his research brief here.

policy specialist?

This report is simple to its detriment. Conclusions are drawn from cursory observations and, worse, policy suggestions are made without testing (or even seeking out) contemporary theory. Is this what IREX designates as "policy specialist"?