While encouraging educational exchanges and agricultural innovation, Washington's first ambassador to Turkmenistan found government suspicion overwhelming.
Although Karimov was hardly warm and cuddly, he had, on occasion, a sort of sense of humor, writes the U.S. ambassador to Uzbekistan in the late 1990s.
What did America have to offer the Central Asian states at their independence? A senior diplomat reflects on programing assistance to support development, rather than squabbling elites.