Traditionally, countries such as Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan - collectively known as the "STANS", are considered to be the embodiment of desperate, backward, currupt, morally and financially bankrupt states. The idea of the "banana
republic" is along the same lines. Given the militaristic foreign policies of the
USA in recent years, its current economic woes appear to some observers as a fitting comeuppance. And, it is believed that the root cause of the present difficulties
lies in precisely those attributes that are commonly assigned to the "STANS". Thus, the term "Yankistan" serves to describe the
USA in terms of "desperate, backward, currupt, morally and financially bankrupt". Of course, the heightened engagement of the
USA in Central Asia, the
home of many "stans", is the
chief reason why "Yankistan" is used in this context.
Examples of this term in use occur:
1. At the China Daily blog, where it is said:
BROKE & CRASHED yankistan ready to kiss Russia arse" - This is in reference to the US offer to "reset" relations with Russia.
2. The Russian Pravda.ru features:
Desperate yankistan tries to launch "color revolution" in Kirgizstan - This is in reference to the alleged role of the
USA in inciting
popular discontent with the Kyrgyz government in a supposed effort to achieve regime change, and a government that will allow the US to maintain its
Manas Air Base in Kyrgyzstan - that is presently used in the War on Terror: in Afghanistan!
