Central Asia is frequently in the news these days – and most of the news seems to be bad. The casual reader, viewer, and listener has become acquainted with a region of landlocked and poor countries – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan – that share a legacy of isolation, squandered natural resources, environmental degradation, and Soviet-era political systems.
今天，中亚成了新闻报道的热点¾但绝大多数都不是什么好消息。心不在焉的读者、看客和听众知道了这些被陆地包围的贫困国家¾哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、塔吉克斯坦、土库曼斯坦和乌兹别克斯坦。这些国家在传统上都很封闭、自然资源浪费和环境退化问题严重，有着苏联时期遗留下来的共同的政治体系。