The government of Tajikistan, the poorest country of the ex-Soviet Union, needs Russian soldiers to protect it against Islamic insurgents.

ECONOMIST: Ex-Soviet Union: A ghost lurks | The

Under terms of the 1997 peace agreement, 30% of government jobs in Tajikistan went to former rebels.

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He is also unhappy about the inclusion of Islamists in Tajikistan's new government.

ECONOMIST: Central Asia

Uzbekistan's determination to wield its power in the region have led to a series of disagreements with Russia, most spectacularly in 1998 in Tajikistan, where Uzbekistan was accused of supporting a failed coup against the Russian-backed government.

ECONOMIST: Uzbekistan

Alexei Malashenko, an expert on Central Asia at the Carnegie Moscow Centre, argues that unless it wants to repeat the mistake it made in neighbouring Tajikistan whose Islamists the Russians criticised, only to see some of them wind up in government the Kremlin needs to think about the sort of regime that is likely to follow Mr Karimov's, whenever that may be.

ECONOMIST: Uzbekistan