The woman behind Central Asia’s ‘island of democracy’
By Gabbi Bright | October 15, 2019As President Roza Otunbayeva took her seat on stage, a hush fell over the audience in Wilks Theater. The former president of Kyrgyzstan, the first and, so far, only female head of state in Central Asia, sat across from Miami University associate political science professor, Hannah Chapman. Their discussion about Krgyzstan’s history, democratization and the future was a part of the Havighurst Center for Russian and Post-Soviet Studies’ annual lecture series.















