Dugin,Eurasianism, and Central Asia

Eurasianism as a concept emerged among Russian émigrés in the 1920s, with the premise that Russia is a unique ethnic blend, primarily of Slavic and Turkic peoples. Its geopolitical implications for Russia include gravitation toward mostly Turkic Central Asia. Alexander Dugin, one of its best-known proponents, believes that the demise of the Soviet Union was simply a tragic incident. The people of the former USSR should again be united in a grand Eurasian empire, with Russia a benign and generous patron, providing its “younger brothers” clients economic largesse and defense, mostly against the predatory USA. The “orange revolutions” and the rise of Russian nationalism, for whose proponents a restored imperial presence is rather marginal, indicate that Eurasianism—along with the dream of the resurrection of the USSR—is becoming less viable.     

The environment,security and regional cooperation in Central Asia

Environmental challenges, resulting from either a scarcity of natural resources or environmental degradation, may contribute to security risks in Central Asia. An encouraging sign is the recent attention of the governments of Central Asia, civil society groups and international organizations to these environmental security issues. Their efforts indicate that by working together to prevent conflicts caused by environmental problems, cooperation among the countries of Central Asia may expand. Both short and long-term obstacles must be overcome if these groups are to ensure that environmental stresses do not lead to security concerns.     

Central Asia and regional security

This paper aims to analyze the politico-military cooperation among the Central Asian countries viewed as a key factor in ensuring the regional security. Today, the geopolitical tension in the surrounding regions, the worsening situation in Afghanistan, as well as intraregional socio-economic problems directly affect the security situation in Central Asia. In this regard, the question arises as to how well the Central Asian states are able to meet these challenges. The analysis of the situation in the region in the 1990s and at the beginning of the new century shows that attempts have been made to establish a regional security system based on military cooperation among Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. However, unregulated interstate relations in Central Asia, the lack of political will to cooperate with leaders of neighboring countries and the combination of external and internal threats have contributed to the creation of a regional security system based on the multilateral structures with the involvement of external actors.     

Trade,Development, and Nonproliferation: Multilevel Counterterrorism in Central Asia

This article was presented in its original form in October 2005 at the Conference on Central Asian Security in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. This article seeks to add to the discourse on counterterrorism by looking at the challenges posed by sub-state radicalism to development and regionalization. Specifically, adequate counterterror campaigns require addressing socioeconomic feeders of radicalism while simultaneously dealing with the threat of political violence itself. In terms of development, this means advocating increased trade volumes and export oriented growth while concurrently controlling for illicit trade (which often finances terrorist movements) and trade in strategic goods (which could serve to undermine the security of the state). The authors use the case study of Uzbekistan and Central Asian insecurity to illustrate the utility of customs modernization, border security, and export control legislation as integral components in wider counterterror campaigns. The study addresses circumstances specific to present day Central Asia but has wider implications in stymieing the relationship between “grey areas” and terrorist movements worldwide.     

中亚安全与安全合作

苏联解体后,中亚地区的安全问题一直是国际关注的焦点问题. 中亚地区的军事安全问题 简言之,中亚地区的安全问题可以分为传统安全问题和非传统安全问题.所谓传统安全是指以军事安全为核心的安全.从这个定义出发,中亚地区的传统安全问题依然占有十分重要的位置.中亚各国为捍卫和维护自身的国家安全利益,制定了一系列战略方针、政策和策略.独立后,中亚五国纷纷组建了自己的本国军队.但由于苏联解体过程过快,中亚五国独立进程是在很短的时间内完成的,这就决定了中亚五国在组建本国军队方面需要一个过程.     

中亚三女杰

哈萨克斯坦总统纳扎尔巴耶夫的大女儿达里加·纳扎尔巴耶娃、乌兹别克斯坦总统卡里莫夫的大女儿古丽娜拉·卡里莫娃、吉尔吉斯斯坦总统阿卡耶夫的妻子迈拉姆·阿卡耶娃等都是当前活跃于各国权力中心的风云女性.她们凭借自身特殊的身份、地位和性别优势在国家政治舞台上施展自己的才华和抱负.从2005-2007年,随着中亚各国陆续进入总统换届的多事之秋,上述三位女性有可能脱颖而出,成为各自国家总统的接班人.     

美国和中亚的地区主义

谋求建立地区永久合作机构的运动将受到几个层面因素的影响:第一,地区主义受到国家能力的限制.一般来说,弱国与弱国不会成为很好的伙伴.在地区层面上,人们普遍认为霸权能够产生坚固的合作,在其中占主导地位的国家寻求建立使其主导地位制度化的地区机构而其他地区国家则寻求避免不顺从的代价;而另外一些国家则可能选择抵抗,它们的反霸权行为将阻碍正式或非正式地区机构的发展.地区国家之间的经济互补也有助于促进合作,而缺少这种互补则可能减少追求合作并使之制度化的动力.另外,跨边界资源(如水资源)的共享也会导致合作或者竞争.跨国挑战的出现(如恐怖主义、毒品交易、移民、环境恶化等),也会使国家在无力单独解决这些问题的时候选择加强合作关系;另一方面,这样的挑战也将激起其他一些国家的敌对反应.在跨国层面上,共同的文化和价值也将促进合作.没有共同的文化或更有甚者--重要文化差异的存在也是阻碍合作的重要因素.     

Will there be revolution in Central Asia?

Will revolution, either of the democratic or the Islamic fundamentalist variety, spread throughout Central Asia? Such a question cannot be answered definitively. I will address this question by examining what is going on in Central Asia in light of different theories of revolution, including the ones focusing on relative deprivation, regime type, state breakdown, external factors, democratic revolution theory, and the role of the military. This study will show that several theoretical approaches suggest that the ingredients for revolution in Central Asia are either there now or will be in the not too distant future.