Yankistan

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.