Central Asian Republics Research Articles

Durand Line Agreement 1893: Myths and Reality

This paper attempts to analyse the myths about the Durand Line Agreement between the British India and Afghanistan in 1893. Nineteenth century is considered as the century of imperialism. The two great powers i.e Great Britain and Russia were in competition to fulfill their imperialistic designs. Great Britain succeeded in taking full control of India and Russia annexed Khiva, Bokhara and Khokand currently Central Asian republics until 1870. Afghanistan was the only state left between the two giants. The British India tested its muscles in Afghanistan in 1839 and 1878 but failed to consolidate. The fear of Russian advancement during the Great Game compelled the British India to declare Afghanistan a buffer state and demarcate its boundaries. They started working on it immediately after the second Anglo-Afghan war in 1885. Resultantly the western boundaries of India were secured through the famous Durand Line Agreement in 1893 between Afghanistan and British India. After the independence of Pakistan in 1947 a lot of myths emerged related to this agreement. This paper focuses on those myths and its reality in order to clarify the misunderstanding related to this much debated agreement.

Factoring Central Asia in the Russia-India Energy Trade

The article looks into the Russia-India energy trade potential and its strategic significance with a particular focus on the Central Asian energy trade. Russia has become a major player in the energy market and its handling of Syrian crisis has enhanced its position in the Middle East that has impact on oil market and production scenario. India has been a growing at a rate of above 5% and its energy needs have been substantial. India and Russia share a very special relationship due to long-standing cultural and political ties and this has been a facilitator to India’s energy security needs. The Central Asian Republics hold a special position for Russia and India in terms of strategic security across South and Central Asian region. The two countries not only deeply connect themselves with the region but also find it necessary to preserve the region from religious extremism and terrorism that is worsened by the narcotics and arms trade. The Central Asian republics are a house to some of the world’s largest natural gas reserves and they have been exporting it large volumes through pipelines. However, the approach has not materialised as South Asia due to the Afghanistan situation. Therefore, Russia remains an important route to access energy resources from Eurasia and Central Asia in particular. India also has high exposure to the maritime energy trade with Africa and Latin America countries that contribute to the counting opportunity cost for accessing Central Asian energy. The paper highlights the significance of energy trade between Russia, India and Central Asian countries that could contribute to geopolitical stability across the region.

Identity-building in Kazakhstan

"As a young nation that came into existence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Kazakhstan undergoes a gradual transformation within its demographics. The issue of national identity within what was once an important and well-integrated part of the USSR continues to draw the involvement of its administrative apparatus that has to find the equilibrium between, on one hand, maintaining national integrity through various mechanisms and, on the other, managing the level of external and internal factors that may lead to the fate of its fellow Central-Asian republics. Keywords: nationalism, populism, Central Asia, statehood, post-Soviet identity"

Orta Asya ve Kazakistan Cumhuriyetlerinde Tarımsal Bütünleşme Temelinde Bölgesel Tarım Kümelenmesi Oluşturmak

The issue of economic integration from the first day of independence of the Central Asian republics to this day still has not been removed from the agenda. It is thought that economic integration will increase the welfare of citizens in the Central Asia Republics and facilitate the achievement of macroeconomic targets. Economic integration could create a strong competitor to the economies of European Union, USA and China. Although the desire for integration processes yielded some results, there are many organizational and economic problems that require urgent solutions, especially in the Agricultural sector of the economy. One of such problems of the Agricultural sector is the difference in the forms of land ownership, in the levels of integration, the conformity of products of one republic to the standards of another, with mutual trade in Agricultural products. This article is devoted to the study and analysis of the course of integration processes in general and in the Agricultural sector of the region, as well as the development of conceptual approaches to regional agro-industrial integration as ways to solve the above problems. Studying the dynamics of the agrarian and land reforms of the republics of the region revealed a general trend in structural changes in Agriculture aimed at integrating industries directly related to Agricultural production. In this study, the possibilities of integration are revealed through the creation of regional Agro-Clusters taking into account natural and climatic conditions, as well as domestic and regional demand and supply of Agricultural products. A model of regional Agro-Clusters has also been developed, including five main clusters, and options have been proposed for the participation of republics in their creation.

Soviet in Form, National in Content: Central Asian Migrants in the Cultural Infrastructure of Moscow

Unlike the leisure practices of migrants from Central Asia in large Russian cities, which recently came to the attention of researchers, the presence of this population in the urban cultural infrastructure has hardly been studied so far. This research, based on in-depth interviews with members of community-based organizations and artistic groups established by people from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, as well as observation of their activities at various cultural venues in Moscow, discusses the peculiarities of post-Soviet diversity management. In this article I am making two main points: (i) The self-presentations of people of Central Asian origin on various public platforms in Moscow largely involve performing the role of ambassadors of a homogenous 'national culture'. Such a form of cultural behaviour, inherited from Soviet past, allows the participants of corresponding events to achieve guaranteed recognition from both the host site and their compatriots. It legitimizes their presence in the public sphere as agents of the 'dialogue of cultures,' since it fits the dominant discourse of ethnic diversity in Russia. Thus, for the majority of informants, culture turns out to be a kind of 'safe space,' cleansed of the daily troubles associated with labour migration; (ii) it may seem that this kind of self-expression for migrants is determined by social powers: whether the latter are officials, responsible for national policy in Moscow, embassies of Central Asian republics, or public organizations calling themselves 'diasporas'. But with a deeper study of the issue, it turns out that the aforementioned scenarios of self-presentation are still playable without direct influence from the authorities. The explanation is that Central Asian migrants voluntarily accept this representation that is Soviet in form and national in content as far as it makes it possible to symbolically overcome the marginalization that they face.

STATE BORDER ISSUES IN THE MODERN HISTORY OF UZBEKISTAN

The formation and disintegration of the U.S.S.R. was one of the vital historical events of the 20th century. The Central Asian republics were established by the Soviet government in the 1920s and 1930s as a result of the national and territorial state delimitation, and the borders between them were provisional. As the republics obtained political independence, the process of defining state borders between the new sovereign countries began. This process turned out to be difficult for Uzbekistan, among others, but the republic was mostly able to mutually resolve interstate borders issues based on “uti possidetis.”

GEO-ECONOMIC DIMENSION OF THE CHINA PAKISTAN ECONOMIC CORRIDOR ITS REGIONAL IMPLICATIONS

In a zero-sum environment, the power and role of a state is considerably impacted by its location that helps to settle social, economic, and political affairs of the world. Pakistan`s location is very important. On one side, it shares its boundaries with world two big economies i.e., China and India. On the other side, it has access to world’s oil and gas enriched countries (Iran and Central Asian Republics). CPEC is a multibillion project, that is a step towards close relations between China and Pakistan and to bring together South and East Asian Nations to cooperate and collaborate in terms of trade, currency, culture exchange, energy, and infrastructure. Pakistan is sandwiched between two blocs of states. One bloc possesses vast energy resources whereas the other has the need of energies for their growing economies. Hence, CPEC has the potential to connect China, Pakistan, India, Iran, Afghanistan, and Central Asian Republics and further Russia and Europe. In such scenario, the role of Gwadar port is very significant. It is this significance that gives CPEC a buckling status that buckles all the Belt and Road Corridors. Therefore, the project is in turn a reshaping of Super Pangaea in partial economically, politically, and socially. The research attempts to explore the geo-strategic importance of CPEC.

Russian-Central Asian Relations in the Works of Modern French Researchers

The article examines the views of modern French researchers on the relations between Russia and the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia. This allows us to identify various interpretations of Russian foreign policy, and to understand the main approaches of French scholars analyzing the goals and tasks of Russian geostrategy in the region. As the article demonstrates, French historiography, along with the objectivist view on the Central Asian vector in Russian foreign policy, also includes works of ideological nature. Special emphasis is put on French works that focus on Russian political authors who speak of Russias neo-imperialism. These studies explain the Russian policy in Central Asia through the ruling elites ambition to resurrect an empire in the post-Soviet space and to return superpower status to Russia. Of special interest is the position of authors who try to explain the Russian attitude to the Central Asian region as, on the one hand, an expression of nostalgic feelings harbored by a great part of the population about the nations former greatness, assuming that these feelings have an impact on the leaderships policies, and on the other hand, as the Russian leaderships attempt to use Russias active return to the international arena for the consolidation and self-identification of society. It is observed that some French authors speak of a New Great Game. This very popular concept considers the actions of Russia and other powers operating in the region (USA and China) as a continuation of the historical rivalry between the Russian and British empires in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Russian authors have always been interested in French historiography; this is due to the latters scientific prestige and objectivity, and in particular its application of methodologies that further develop the tradition of the Annales School. At the same time, the growing French scholarship on the issue of Russia and post-Soviet Central Asian republics has not yet been subject to close and complex consideration, which defines the novelty of the article.

Quality of hair-coat covering and skin of Karakul lambs bred in Kalmykia

Karakul breed of sheep is one of the oldest breeds. For the development of semi-desert pastures more than 176 thousand heads of Karakul sheep of gray and black colors were brought to the Republic of Kalmykia from the republics of Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Scientists of the Kalmyk Scientifi c and Research Institute of Agriculture and practical breeders were tasked with creating specialized herds of Karakul sheep of diff erent colors and krimmer lamb types that produce high-grade krimmer lambs. The purpose of the research was to study the quality of hair-coat covering and skin of Karakul lambs bred in Kalmykia. Some qualities of the hair-coat covering and skin of gray and black Karakul lambs in the APC “Polynny” and “Erdnievsky” have been analyzed in the article. The physical and mechanical parameters of the hair-coat covering and skin of Karakul lambs have been studied: the length of the hair in the curl, the hair tone, the degree of silkiness and shine, and the total thickness of the skin. Karakul lambs of black and gray color have diff erent properties of hair-coat covering; lambs of gray color have longer and thinner hair, relatively less shiny, dense hair-coat covering. The average length of white hairs in the rump area of the gray karakul was by 2,4±0,2 mm or 22 %, black hairs by 0,3±0,2 mm or 2,7 %, in the withers by 2,0±0,3 mm and 0,2±0,3 mm longer, respectively, than in similar areas of the black karakul skins. In the lambs of gray color more thick and rather loose skin than in lambs black color. Thus, the skin thickness of gray lambs was by 176 microns or 6,7 % more than black lambs. The primary follicles of white hairs are by 559 microns deeper, and the secondary follicles are 200 microns deeper than the hair follicles of black lambs. Features of the hair cover of lambs of diff erent colors are shown in absolutely identical conditions of feeding and housing, these diff erences should be taken into account when improving of Karakul sheep.

China’s Role in War on Terror

Terrorism being the primary threat to China's national security therefore counter terrorism has turned out to be the main point of China’s domestic and foreign policy. The major terrorist threat that China faces is posed by Uyghur separatist fighters of Xinjiang. They claim and fight for a separate independent state called “East Turkistan”. The Xinjiang issue is the major anxiety and the focal point of China’s war on terror. To stop extremism and terrorism in Xinjiang China has adopted a multi-dimensional approach i.e. Strike Hard Campaign, diplomatic actions to isolate terrorists and get the help of other countries, religious, economic and social anti-terrorist policies to eradicate the roots of terrorism from society. China is also cooperating with the countries including US, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asian Republics, and many others in fighting against terrorism. From the platform of Shanghai Cooperation Organization China is also playing important role in counterterrorism. China major interest in war on terror is to stop the spread of extremism and terrorism within her borders particularly in Xinjiang province, as well as to make sure that neighbouring countries not become safe haven and base camp for the Uyghur militants. The main objective of this paper is to analyses the phenomena of terrorism in Xinjiang and China’s role in war on terror.

Central Asian States: Difficulties on the Path of Rapprochement

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the new independent states of Central Asia had faced serious problems, such as the lack of experience in building state system, border demarcation, severe economic situation, threat of interethnic conflicts. However, that period was appropriate for integration initiatives in Central Asia. The economies of the post-Soviet republics in the region had been formed by the common Soviet system, the states depended from each other. In addition, the geopolitical situation in the region was favorable for rapprochement; Russia, China, the United States were not actively involved in regional processes. In the period from 1994 to 2005, the Central Asian republics initiated several integration projects, such as the Common economic space (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan), the Central Asian Economic Community (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan), the Central Asian Cooperation Organization (all republics of Central Asia, except Turkmenistan). It should be noted that the integration process in the region implied all republics of Central Asia, except Turkmenistan, which had been ignoring any initiatives of neighbor countries. These structures did not achieve their goal, such as the creation of a free trade zone as well as customs, currency and payment unions. After a prolonged period of integration initiatives, there were no real close relationships between the countries. The states still prefer to build their relations in a bilateral format. The article considers the reasons that prevent the Central Asian states from effectively pursuing a multilateral format of cooperation in the region. The main reasons that determine the unpreparedness of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan for cooperation in a multilateral format are identified. Attention has been paid to such factors as the collision of interests of outside players, leadership issues between Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, water distribution policy and cross-border cooperation. The steps that Central Asian countries need to take to establish effective multilateral cooperation in the region are analyzed.

Возможна ли экономическая интеграция в Центральной Азии? Региональный вектор политики Казахстана

<span> В статье рассматриваются проблемы регионализма и конфликтов интересов стран Центральной Азии (ЦА), создающих препятствия к внутрирегиональной интеграции, показана особая роль, которую играет в субрегионе Казахстан. По данным статистики торговли и движения капитала оценена степень интегрированности экономик Казахстана, Кыргызстана, Таджикистана, Туркмении и Узбекистана. Показано, что пользование водными ресурсами усиливает конфликтность отношений между странами Центральной Азии. Рассмотренная история современных интеграционных процессов в странах ЦА свидетельствует о слабом потенциале внутрирегиональных экономических и политических связей. Экономические структуры и пространственное размещение производительных сил таковы, что при нынешнем уровне технологического развития, накопленного капитала и расклада внешних политико-экономических интересов ЦА, вероятнее всего, окажется не субъектом, а объектом развития интеграционных процессов. До конца 2010-х гг. в регионе доминировала экономическая и военная мощь России. К концу этого периода все четче прорисовывается лидерство Китая. Казахстан играет первую скрипку в экономическом ансамбле центральноазиатских республик. От его выбора, с кем и как вступать в альянсы, будет зависеть профиль региональных экономических и политических структур.</span>

Soyuzy tvorcheskoj intelligencii v sisteme gosudarstvennogo paternalizma (na primere central'noaziatskih respublik SSSR v 30-e gg. XX v.)

The article is devoted to the study of the socio-economic and structural foundations of the creative associations of the Central Asian republics of the USSR in the 30s. XX century. On the basis of archival and published sources, it is concluded that the formation of creative unions was carried out within the framework of a paternalistic approach, the defining feature of which was target selectivity. At the same time, it is shown that the organization of creative Unions within this approach provided the process of consolidation of the creative forces of the region, beneficially influenced the process of formation of the national creative intelligentsia of the Central Asian republics.

The Impact of Post-Communist Central Asia’s Internal Dynamics on its External Relations

Under the Soviet Union rule, Central Asia was a closed region with no access to the outside world. Both internal and external affairs in the region was directed by the central government in Moscow. When the Central Asian republics became dependence in 1991, the situation changed.Yet, in the new era Central Asia has faced many problems and challenges. This paper aims to explore how Central Asia’s internal dynamics have influenced its external relations? The paper concludes that the region’s external relations have been greatly affected by its internal dynamics.

The Alternative Histories of Muslim Asia’s Urban Centres: De-Cosmopolitanisation and Beyond

Historians increasingly analyse the cultural diversity of life in the Afro-Eurasian arena of ‘Muslim dominion’ in terms of its cosmopolitanism. By contrast, critical scholarship has recently brought attention to declining levels of religious diversity in present-day Muslim Asia – a term that refers to Asia’s Muslimmajority population zones. This article, by contrast, explores the ongoing legacy of urban cosmopolitanism in Muslim Asia. It focuses on a small but lively community of Jews from the Afghan cities of Kabul and Herat, and does so in comparison to a considerably larger community of Jews from formerly Soviet Central Asian Republics, especially Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, who identify themselves as ‘Bukharan’. Investigating ethnographic material relating to Afghan and Bukharan Jewish communities based in New York, the article sheds light on an alternative and ongoing history of cosmopolitanism in Muslim Asia. More broadly, it also argues that field research amongst migrant and diasporic communities from Muslim Asia living in the West can offer important insights into the afterlives of the region’s historic cities.

The neglected country(side): Earthquake risk perceptions and disaster risk reduction in post-Soviet rural Kazakhstan

While increasing resilience to earthquakes in the global South has become a major research and policy goal, the focus has largely been on rapidly expanding urban areas. Rural areas are often neglected despite the fact that rural residents make up a significant proportion of the population exposed to earthquakes in many low and middle-income countries. Central Asia is a case in point. Drawing on empirical research undertaken in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan, this paper explores local perceptions of and responses to earthquake hazard and risk among rural householders. The primary data are derived from a survey of 302 households conducted across six rural communities in South Kazakhstan oblast (now Turkistan oblast), supplemented by 10 focus group discussions with rural residents. The findings show little awareness of earthquakes or concern about the potential occurrence of a high magnitude earthquake in the future. This reflects, at least in part, a lack of direct experience of all but minor earthquakes. As a result, we see little evidence of the presence of a seismic culture. Only a small number of respondents had received guidance on how to prepare for, or respond to, earthquakes, and few householders had taken any action to reduce the risk faced. We reflect on the findings in the context of Kazakhstan’s Soviet past and its transition to a post-Soviet future. We argue that acknowledging this past is essential to understanding local level decision-making and to informing future disaster risk reduction interventions in rural areas.

Global Autocracies: Strategies of Transnational Repression, Legitimation, and Co-Optation in World Politics

AbstractHow, when, and why does a state take repressive action against individuals residing outside its territorial jurisdiction? Beyond state-led domestic forms of control over citizens living within their legal borders, autocracies also seek to target those abroad—from African states’ sponsoring violence against exiled dissidents to Central Asian republics’ extraditions of political émigrés, and from the adoption of spyware software to monitor digital activism across Latin America to enforced disappearances of East Asian expatriates. Despite growing global interconnectedness, the field of international studies currently lacks an adequate comparative framework for analyzing how autocracies adapt to growing cross-border mobility. I argue that the rise of global migration flows has contributed to the emergence of “transnational authoritarianism,” as autocracies aim to both maximize material gains from citizens’ “exit” and minimize political risks by controlling their “voice” abroad. I demonstrate that governments develop strategies of transnational repression, legitimation, and co-optation that transcend state borders, as well as co-operation with a range of non-state actors. Bringing work on the international politics of migration in conversation with the literature on authoritarianism, I provide illustrative examples drawn from a range of transnational authoritarian practices by the fifty countries categorized as “Not Free” by Freedom House in 2019, covering much of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and South America. I sketch an emerging field of international studies research around the novel means that autocracies employ to exercise power over populations abroad, while shedding light on the evolving nature of global authoritarianism.

The Future of Water Management in Central Asia

Central Asia is an increasingly important strategic geopolitical region. During the latest decades, the region has often been identified as close to potential conflict regarding water usage. This includes the sharing of water from the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya in the Aral Sea Basin. The Aral Sea disaster has exposed a complex picture of water needs and potential political conflict. Rapid population increase together with climate change impacts are likely to further aggravate the short- and long-term future precarious situation for water management in the region. This Special Issue focuses on present and future water management issues in Central Asia in view of future climate changes and how these will affect socioeconomic development. Central Asia is, in general, water rich; however, exercising efficient and fair water management will be important in view of future population increase and climate change. At the same time, water and natural resource development is a cornerstone in all the Central Asian republics. Especially, water resources are, to a great extent, shared between all five republics. A common ground for water-sharing is, therefore, of utmost importance.

Characteristics, precursors, and potential predictability of Amu Darya Drought in an Earth system model large ensemble

The socioeconomic stability of the Central Asian Republics in the Amu Darya watershed is sensitive to drought. Activities related to agriculture employ a large fraction of the population and are responsible for at least one-fifth of the gross domestic products of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan. Toward building a predictive understanding that may be applied to drought early warning practices, the characteristics, precursors and potential predictability of agricultural drought in the Amu Darya watershed are examined in a large ensemble of Community Earth System Model version 1 simulations during 1920–2019. Agricultural drought is examined over Upper and Lower regions of the Amu Darya watershed, which have different mean hydroclimates, and is defined by 1-m soil moisture deficits lasting three or more months. The likelihood of drought onset and demise is phase-locked with the seasonal cycle of precipitation of each region, but with some notable differences. For the Upper region, drought onset and demise are three times more likely to occur during Autumn and Spring than other seasons. For the Lower region, drought onset and demise are three times more likely to occur during November–April than during Summer. Precipitation anomalies drive drought onset and demise during the climatological wet periods of both regions while temperatures play a smaller role. The probability of drought onset and demise is modulated by La Nina and El Nino, which control the interannual variability of precipitation over the Central Asian Republics during their wet seasons, indicating that the state of the El Nino Southern Oscillation serves as a key predictor of agricultural drought phase changes.

Die Landwirtschaft der arischen Völker aus der frühen Eisenzeit: Tiere und Menschen im vorachämenidischen Mittelasien1

The Iranian peoples, or Aryans as they called themselves, are the indisputable characters of the last millennium of the history of the Ancient Near East. How they began to take part in the history of Central Asia to become some of the most eminent rulers of Late Antiquity, is still difficult to follow today. Our intention in this paper is to collect the work on this subject of Soviet scholars and relate it with those carried out by archaeologists from different countries in cooperation with the Central Asian republics, particularly with our research within the frame- work of the Turkmen-Spanish archaeological Mission in Dahistan (Southwestern Turkmenistan). Through archaeological data, as well as through written sources, we will focus on the faunas that lived with these people, and put them in connection with the re-writing of the history of the so- called Median Empire.