When the Soviet Union ceased to exist, the United States was tasked with establishing diplomatic relations with the newly independent successor republics and creating an embassy in each new capital. In this book, the first U.S. ambassador to Tashkent, Henry Clarke, explains the logistical challenges of accomplishing that goal in Uzbekistan, the third largest republic by population after Russia and Ukraine. He shows how the United States supported Uzbekistan's independence by expanding, from near zero, its political, economic, commercial, military, educational, humanitarian, and even artistic relationships with the USA.

The book addresses such complex issues as the fighting in neighboring Tajikistan and Afghanistan; the gradual change in the official language from Russian to Uzbek, including a shift from the Cyrillic to the Latin alphabet; local corruption and the lack of market economic policies; and the challenge of defending American principles of human rights in a country whose leader, Islam Karimov, became renowned for brutality. But with international help, by 1995 Uzbekistan's independence had become well established.