Educational Media Reviews Online

The Stakes of Islam explores the tension and unrest that characterizes the Fergana Valley of Central Asia. Three former Soviet republics control the valley: Kirghizstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan with the lion’s share. This economically important area has seen a resurgence of Islam in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Most of the thousands of newly opened mosques and religious schools continue to operate with the blessing of the state, but the strict fundamentalists are at war with the existing governments. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, aided by extremists in Afghanistan and Chechnya, hopes to establish a caliphate in Fergana. Ethic conflict, economic dislocation, and 40% unemployment contribute to the effectiveness of their message. In this documentary, Uzbekistan appears as a religiously tolerant society that has had to crack down on extremists in order to remain so. The Stakes of Islam describes the Uzbek and Kirghiz military response, but also Uzbekistan’s efforts to inoculate the population against fundamentalism through education. This documentary was apparently all but finished by September 11th (only the final statement suggests cognizance of the war on terror), but it is by no means out of date.

The only inaccuracy is on the video case, which mentions the Fergana Valley’s population of “one hundred million.” The documentary gives the correct figure of 9 million. The visuals are well done. The technical quality over-all is very good, with the exception of the handling of audio during interviews: the original language plays at undiminished volume, making it difficult to concentrate on the English voice-over.

In The Stakes of Islam, an Uzbek official made the ominous remark: “There is no opposition.” Uzbekistan: Islamic Repression focuses on this issue, to reveal another peril besides terrorism in Uzbekistan. This brief, unsettling documentary examines Uzbek president Karimov’s crackdown on Muslim extremists and terrorists. It features interviews with Human Rights Watch, as well as Karimov’s victims and their relations. Karimov, a former communist party boss, includes democratic opponents as well as militant fundamentalists in his crackdown; the film notes that “now when Karimov enters parliament, he’s assured of universal applause, just like in the old days when the Communist Party ruled all.” Produced in the wake of September 11th, this video produces ambivalence about the fact that “the grand coalition is joining his war.”

The films complement each other well. Neither one is so one-sided as to require the other, but together they give a well-rounded picture of the dilemma Central Asia faces in militant Islam. Both are recommended for academic libraries, as well as public and school libraries supporting interest in Central Asia, modern Islam, or the war on terror.