For Stephen Young ’73, the U.S. ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, diplomatic work was “a natural choice.”
Young joined the Foreign Service in 1980, after completing his doctorate, and has been in diplomacy ever since. He is armed with a B.A. in History and Russian Language and Literature from Wesleyan and a master’s degree and Ph.D in Russian History from the University of Chicago.
Young began the position as ambassador in late August. Before being appointed, from July 2002 to July 2003, Young was the director of the Office of Chinese and Mongolian Affairs in the East Asian and Pacific Bureau of the Department of State. He has also served as director of the Office of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh Affairs in the South Asian Bureau, as deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and as director of the Office of Caucasus and Central Asian Affairs for the State Department.
“My father’s career as an army officer left me with an interest in government service, and my academic background in Russian and Chinese history made overseas work attractive,” Young said of his decision to pursue diplomatic work.
Kyrgyzstan gained its independence in 1991, after more than 100 years of Soviet rule, but has remained a relatively poor country. It has a rich nomadic heritage and is now predominantly Muslim, though it retains a Russian influence.
“[Kyrgyzstan] is a beautiful mountainous country of five million people, set in the southeastern corner of Central Asia along the Chinese border,” Young said.
As ambassador to the country, which is slightly smaller than South Dakota, Young must perform a variety of diplomatic duties.
“First and foremost, I represent the United States across the board,” Young said. “Sometimes I am conveying the views of my government to the host government, other times soliciting the views of the Kyrgyz government to report back to Washington. We also provide policymakers in Washington with analysis of events here, whether progress and problems in human rights or the state of Kyrgyz-Russian relations.”
His work as a diplomat also presents Young with many challenges, from being a local celebrity, to maintaining an unbiased perspective on issues.
“Living in the public eye, a pretty new experience for me, is one of the major challenges,” Young said. “I have discovered that the local press covers nearly everything I do, and is prone to overanalyze some of my public statements. Another challenge is ensuring that I am maintaining a balanced perspective, understanding the pressures this poor, newly-independent country and its leaders face, without losing sight of American goals, including our effort to nudge Kyrgyzstan in the direction of democracy and greater respect for its citizens’ rights.”
Young has also had to learn to deal with being away from his wife and three children, who stayed at their home in the U.S.
“Unfortunately, there is only a small English language school here that stops after the eighth grade, so the family has remained back in McLean, Virginia,” he said. “They will come out here for Christmas and a portion of the summer next year, and I will get back to Washington a couple of times a year to see them there as well. The decision to take this assignment, knowing it would involve the first separation since Barbara [his wife] and I were married 20 years ago, was a difficult one, which we reached after considerable discussion.”
Terrorism, too, poses a challenge. Though Kyrgyzstan is a “moderate Islamic country,” Young said he still faces threats to his security and the security of those working with him.
“We face a moderate terrorist threat here, predominantly from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan,” Young said. “There have been a few bombings here, and we have uncovered threats both against our embassy and the airbase at Manas airport. But close cooperation with the local government and constant vigilance on the part of our staff and its security specialists make me comfortable that we have taken all necessary precautions here.”
Despite the threats from this and other terrorist groups, Young said he finds that the Kyrgyz people are, for the most part, accepting of the U.S. presence.
“I have encountered an overwhelmingly positive reception wherever I go here,” he said. “Attitudes towards Americans are very positive, in large part because we have contributed nearly $700 million in U.S. assistance since Kyrgyzstan emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union. The people are warm-hearted and open, and my Russian language makes it easy to communicate with them.”
Even with the hardships, Young said he has taken great pleasure in his work so far. The friendly people and the excitement of living in the breathtaking scenery of the country make the experience enjoyable. He finds time to travel around the country and experience the landscape and the culture.
“One of my favorite trips thus far took me up to the 10,000 foot-high mountain lake of Song-Kul in south-central Kyrgyzstan,” Young said. “I stayed in a local herding family’s yurt on the shores of the lake for two days. Drank kumyss [fermented mare’s milk], rode a horse up the hills above the lake and marveled at the starry skies after darkness fell. There are certainly hardships living and working in a third-world country, but they are more than compensated for by the sheer adventure of being out here and having a chance to make an impact.”
Young said his experience at Wesleyan has proved invaluable for his career.
“Wesleyan taught me the importance of creative thinking and left me with a lifelong desire to continue my education,” he said. “I traveled to the Soviet Union during the summer of 1971 with six other Wesleyan Russian students…deepening my fascination with this area of the world at an early age.”
As Young begins his service as ambassador, he hopes that his work there will not only have an impact on the nation of Kyrgyzstan, but on himself and those with whom he works.
“As Secretary [of State] Powell charged me before I came out here, he wants those who have worked for me to be able to say that they are better persons as a result of serving here with me,” Young said.
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