Switzerland represents Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan at the Bretton Woods Institutions.  Since the mid-1990s the Swiss initial illusions as to Central Asia’s rapid transition toward democracy and market economy have given room to a more pragmatic appraisal of ‘transition’ processes.  The present article focuses on the public debates before the 2004 Swiss parliamentary elections on the continuity of Central Asia as a priority of the Confederation’s diplomacy.