RIVERS AND BRIDGES ARIZONA (RBA)

Building Bridges Between the People of Central

Asia and the United States

Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. With a long and celebrated history it has been at the crossroads of many people and cultures. It is a part of the Silk Road. It has high mountains and shares borders with China and several of the “Stan” countries.

RBA cooperates with people in Kyrgyzstan to build a cultural bridge between people in the United States and people in Central Asia.  RBA seeks to promote stronger ties and a fuller understanding of each culture through mentorship and cultural exchange.  We seek to empower them to build and achieve their dreams in their own country.  Through these bridges of strong cultural exchange we hope to promote a strong democracy, an open and flourishing civil society, religious tolerance and growing respect for human rights.  RBA was also founded with an understanding that the promoting of cultural exchange has powerful benefits for U.S. participants as well.  Their culture is a unique and an irreplaceable part of the world's cultural tapestry.  Our work of promoting cross cultural exchange is accomplished through conducting professional workshops in their country. 

 Kyrgyzstan has taken a different approach to their political system than their authoritarian neighbors, such as Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Kyrgyzstan has had a more pluralistic political system since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Kyrgyzstan has swung between authoritarian and democratic forms of government as explained in Engvall, Johan (2022). "Kyrgyzstan's Poison Parliament". Journal of Democracy. 33 (1): 55–69. ISSN 1086-3214. The Kyrgyz Republic transition from a part of the Soviet Union to an independent democratic state has been challenging.