Russia’s New Southern Border: Western Siberia–Central Asia
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| Russia’s foreign and security policy in Central Asia: the regional perspective |
Just over a decade ago, 12 western Siberian regions of Russia were transformed into border regions. Since December 1991, they have been assuming – under their own initiative, or by default in the absence of effective federal policies – an increasingly prominent role in Russia’s foreign, economic and security policy towards the wider Central Asian space. In April 2003, in Omsk, during a summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Kazakhstan President Narsultan Nazerbayev, the border regions were referred to as ‘locomotives’ for integration between the two countries, as well as between Russia and other Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) states in Central Asia.
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| Russian foreign-policy objectives in Central Asia |
This paper addresses the issues surrounding Russia’s foreign-policy strategy in Central Asia. A frequently asked question is: does such a strategy exist? If one includes Central Asia in the region of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), then, in formal terms, the answer is yes. It must not be forgotten that, as long ago as January 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a document entitled ‘The Main Directions of the Development of Russia’s Relations with the CIS Member States’. Its main tenets were based on the corresponding chapter and new version of the Foreign Policy Concept of the Russian Federation, which was ratified by Putin in June 2000.
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| Russia’s new borders in the context of regional cooperation in the post-Soviet space |
The decade since the collapse of the Soviet Union has clearly revealed the uncertainty surrounding the development of the newly created post-Soviet states. The acute problems that these countries are experiencing are linked to the transformation of administrative borders to national frontiers. The post-Soviet states are increasingly independent in regard to shaping their economic and political direction. At the same time, they have become increasingly polarised in social and economic terms. The creation of new national borders is inevitably leading to geopolitical and geo-economic consequences. The scale of these ramifications depends on the progress of, and the prospects for, bilateral and multilateral regional cooperation. |
| Greater Altai: a proposed alliance of the regions bordering Central Asia and Siberia |
This article explores the history and future of the Greater Altai cross-border cooperation project which has been a topic of much discussion since 1998. Initially, local proposals regarding this plan never extended beyond certain ecological schemes. Since summer 2000, however, it has moved on a step and has been discussed in more detail with both the local authorities and non-governmental organisations – to the point where they are talking about a full-scale cross-border alliance modelled on the Euro regions. That is, the creation of an ‘Altai Mountain region’, which the Russians call Greater Altai (Bolshoi Altai) and the Chinese refer to as the East–Central Asia economic zone.
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| The anti-terrorist campaign and the regional security system |
There is much dispute about whether a Central Asian regional security system has or has not been established. If such a system exists, what is it based on and what does it look like? If not, why not? In my opinion, a regional security system is beginning to take shape. The Western military presence in Central Asia, the institutionalisation in 2002 of the Collective Security Treaty (CST) via its transformation into the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the strengthening of the military and political components of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) are all proof that a complex, multi-level regional security system is being formed, which should guarantee military-political and social-economic stability in Central Asia.
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| Religious aspects of terrorism and extremism |
Terrorism is a centuries-old problem. Due to historical circumstances, however, the word itself (‘terrorism’) has became an enduring part of our vocabulary. From around the mid-1990s, politicians and specialists in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) have frequently used it, following notorious actions by Chechen rebels in Russia. After the 1999 armed insurgency and conflict in the Batken region of Kyrgyzstan it was tied to the word ‘extremism’.
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| The transformation of ethnic identity in Central Asia: a case study of the Uzbeks and Tajiks |
These days it is rather banal to state that the world as a whole, and Central Asia in particular, is experiencing a vibrant ‘growth in ethnic consciousness’, a rise in nationalism in its most extreme and radical forms, and an increase in inter-ethnic disputes, which often result in conflict between states or separatist movements. Yet, consensus has not been reached on the reasons behind these processes. Nor are there any reliable predictions of how they will develop in future.
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| The US-Led Military Operation in Afghanistan Through the Eyes 36 |
After the tragic events of 11 September 2001, the international community announced that the ‘War on Terror’ was its number-one priority and it stated that Afghanistan had been fundamental in building a citadel of ‘Islamic terror’. The media and representatives of the political élite of ‘the civilised nations and states’, as well as public opinion, waxed lyrical about the good being served by US-led military operations in Afghanistan against the Taliban and al-Qaeda. It was assumed that applying psychological and ideological pressure to the masses, including those in Russia, would help to maintain the support from the overwhelming majority of society for the anti-terrorist coalition. But is this really the case?
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| The Altai region: old neighbours, new partners |
Until the beginning of the 1990s, the possibilities for cross-regional, cross-border cooperation in the Altai Mountain region were not a topic for research. The socio-economic development of the territories in the area – namely East Kazakhstan, Altai krai and Mongolia’s western aimaks – was within the scope of the Soviet Union’s single national economy. The Soviet Union’s border with Mongolia was merely a line on a map and in no way separated the two sister states. Sections of China’s border with Mongolia and the Soviet Union, though, resembled an ‘iron curtain’ and were, in effect, closed areas, severing ties between the countries that border the Altai Mountains. |
| Chinese migration into the Russian regions: a new phase |
At the 15th Chinese Communist Party Congress in spring 2001, President of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Xiang Jemin revealed the country’s new foreign-policy strategy: to ‘go outside’. Its principal objective is to ensure that China becomes the world’s leading economic power. There are three main reasons why the PRC leadership was prompted to adopt the new strategy: 1. the limited nature of the Chinese domestic market;
2. the country’s lack of a range of natural resources; and
3. the need to attract foreign capital, as well as technical expertise and technology from abroad.
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| Economic migration to Western Siberia |
Migration has traditionally been an important factor in determining the structure of Siberia’s population. Throughout the twentieth century there were several periods in which significant changes occurred in regard to the number of inhabitants in Siberia. One of the most momentous events was the agrarian-reform programme of Russian Prime Minister Peter Stolypin (1906–11), during which the region’s rural population was established and the foundations were laid for future population reproduction in Siberia. From the mid-1920s until the end of the 1930s, the region felt the impact of industrialisation, forced collectivisation and ultimately the Second World War. It was at this time that there were mass deportations of people and the relocation of huge industrial enterprises from the front to this region. Different ethnic groups, especially Russian Germans, were forcibly deported during the first few years of the war.
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