CC BY
14
For example, if he is Avar, the post of the speaker of parliament will be taken by either a Dargin or Kumyk, but not an Avar.
Ethnic representation at the state power bodies in the poly-ethnic regions of the Russian Caucasus can be regarded as an informal political institution. This principle is recognized by the Federal Center, because it is believed that such practice ensures socio-political stability in poly-ethnic republics. It is a regional political tradition, informal political institution and a factor of politicization of the nationalities problem. Observance of this balance is controlled by society and the authorities. At the same time, as the experts note, this system of political representation of ethnic groups is not perfect, there are many shortcomings in it, for instance, in the distribution of important posts between the ethnic segments of multinational communities.
Author of the abstract - Valentina Schensnovich
EMMA ASATRYAN. INTERSTATE CONFLICTS IN THE CENTRAL ASIAN REGION / / The article was specially written for the bulletin "Russia and the Moslem World."
Keywords: Interstate conflicts, water and energy resources, interethnic conflict.
Emma Asatryan,
Student,
Department of Political Science, Moscow State Linguistic University.
Annotation: The article refers to the interstate conflicts in the Central Asian region. This topic has taken the attention of orientalists, political scientists, experts in the field of conflictology of various countries for many years. Two main interstate conflicts in the region are discussed in the article: the ethnic conflict in Osh region and disputes over water and energy resources between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The author pays special
attention to the analysis of scientific literature on this issue. At present, the urgency of this issue for the Central Asian countries is caused by growing tension in international relations, as well as the likely worsening of the conflict up to the possibility of a military confrontation.
At the moment, two major interstate conflicts can be observed in the Central Asian region: the ethnic conflict in the Fergana Valley in the Osh region and the struggle for water and energy resources in this region. These conflicts are a threat to the security of states in this region.
Many political scientists are engaged in this problem in Russia. One of them, PhD (political) Boyarkina O.A. writes in her monograph "Problems of the settlement of international conflicts in the field of water use" that the settlement of water conflicts is due to the regime of joint water use in the Central Asian region (CAR). And the security of the southern borders of Russia on the issue of CAR depends on the political situation in the border areas.
Regulation of these issues is due to such official documents as the Water Strategy of the Russian Federation until 2020, No. 1235-r, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation on August 27, 2009. The author also writes that today the problem of availability of water resources becomes an important factor of modern international relations. The author notes that international and interstate conflicts often become conflicts of interest. In this case, it is a conflict over water resources. Despite the long-term struggle for water, scientists have not found a rational solution to this conflict still. And, nevertheless, O.A. Boyarkina does not provide clear information in her monograph on the conflict over water resources to date. In this regard, it should be noted that the conflict between Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan has worsened over the past two years. The climate in this region has changed dramatically - it has become more arid in the past five years. There is a drought and a decrease in water resources due to sharp
cooling and warming in some regions of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, which was repeatedly mentioned in the UN report on water conflicts in the world (2014). The authorities of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan can not come to an agreement, rather than unite and find a solution to this problem. For example, Uzbekistan opposes the construction of the Rogun hydropower station by Tajikistan. And the authorities have a sharp reason for this - this project is being implemented in the seismically dangerous zone and will cause great damage to the Aral Sea.
Uzbekistan also supports the coordination of actions to implement this project between all bordering countries. Tajikistan should not control the inflows of rivers alone, but all the countries of the region as a whole.
The conflict over energy resources arises against the backdrop of this problem between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. At the moment, Tajikistan is in energy dependence on Uzbekistan and therefore seeks to implement the Rogun hydroelectric project as soon as possible. Thus, Tajikistan will have its own energy industry, and will not depend on Uzbekistan. Independent observer of the countries of the Commonwealth of the Eurasia Heritage Foundation I. Kirsanov writes that the water deficit will cost Uzbekistan $ 600 million in annual losses only in agriculture because of the construction of the Rogun HPP. Therefore, Uzbekistan does not support this project. I. Kirsanov emphasizes that basically Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan suffer because of lack of water resources, as the most important sources of fresh water of the Amudarya and Syrdarya Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are controlled. For example, Uzbekistan depends on the flow of water to its regions. The flow of the Amu Darya to Uzbekistan accounts for 8% of the total runoff to other countries in the region (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan), as can be seen from the UN report on water conflicts in the world.
Another important component of the inter-state conflicts in the Central Asian region is the ethnic conflict in Osh. Many analyst analysts analyzed this issue. For example, experts
Shibutov M.M. and Solozobov Yu.M. published an article in the Sulakshin Center (Center for Scientific Political Thought and Ideology) in May 2016 on conflicts in the Central Asian region. They write that the main causes of interstate conflicts are not only ethnic disputes, but also border territories. Territories in the Ferghana Valley are extremely important for Uzbekistan and other countries of the region. The Fergana Valley becomes a springboard for various terrorist groups and for the development of drug trafficking because of poor security. Not only Russian, but also foreign analysts adhere to this opinion. For example, in 2012, experts from Foreign Policy magazine called the conflict in the Ferghana Valley a threat to the world order in Eurasia. They believed that by 2014 destabilization in this region will intensify not because of ethnic strife between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, but the economy and the desire to gain material benefits and profits from transboundary territories in the Ferghana Valley would be the main reason.
Andrei Grozin, head of the department of Kazakhstan and Central Asia at the CIS Institute, points out that the conflict in the Ferghana Valley can become aggravated at any moment, since it has a permanent character of development and the situation in this area will not be resolved in a favorable direction in the near future. Experts emphasize that the security situation has not changed much since 1990-2016. There are often clashes between Uzbeks and Kirghiz in the border areas in the Osh region, the Sokh enclave, in Batken and Jalal-Abad. The urgency of this problem is that these contradictions arise not because of interethnic, but economic disagreements.
For example, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan can not agree on the construction of a railway in Kyrgyzstan for several years, since the Isfahan and Batken areas are disputed territories for these two countries. According to Russian experts in these areas, roads should not be built. But the U.S. analysts believe that Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan should declare these territories neutral for the construction of the railway and obtain material benefits
from this project. The urgency of the problem is that it has not been studied thoroughly, and at the moment there is no solution to it. These large and influential UN departments like the UNDP tried to find a way out of the situation, but this problem was not solved because the situation in this region was not sufficiently studied by the UN Department.
At the moment, conflicts in this region can also arise because of the following factors, according to the information and analytical center "The Laboratory of Social and Political Development of the Neighboring Countries": poverty, unemployment, the problems of ecology and overpopulation. These and other socio-economic reasons can become a factor in the development of a new conflict situation in the Fergana Valley. You can also see the following when analyzing these sources: world powers - China, India, the United States and Russia - will influence security and conflict resolution in the Fergana Valley. Each of these countries has its geopolitical interests in Central Asia, but they all have different, sometimes diametrically opposed ones. One state may be interested in the development of the conflict in the region, and the other - directly in the settlement of this. Although it can also be assumed that every state in the region has a number of its internal problems, because of which it will not provoke new conflicts in this area.
Thus, it is possible to come to the following conclusions, analyzing the sources on this issue:
- the degree of study of the problem of interstate conflicts in Central Asia is still low, which causes misunderstanding between the states of the region and the underestimation of events.
- Thus, it is possible to come to the following conclusions, analyzing the sources on this issue;
- the conflict over water and energy resources in Central Asia has worsened. Water resources in this region are getting depleted faster and faster, but political elites in Central Asia can not take coordinated actions to solve this problem.
- Although the conflict in the Ferghana Valley has many causes, but its main reason - inter-ethnic strife - is receding into the background at the moment. The main factor in the development of the conflict situation is the desire of the leadership of the countries of this region to obtain economic benefits from various projects in the border areas. The political elite of independent republics is not inclined to cooperate and resolve the conflict.
References
1. O. Boyarkina. Torgovlya vodoy - reshenie vodnogo deficita? [Trade in water -solving the water deficit?] - Problemy Regionalnoi Ekologii. Moscow, 2012. -№ 1. P. 211-216.
2. O. Boyarkina. Mezhgosudarstvennye konflikty na transgranichnyh rekah v Centralnoaziatskom regione [Interstate conflicts on transboundary rivers in the Central Asian region], Moscow, 2012, P. 20-22.
3. S. Zhiltsov. Centralnaya Aziya delit vodnye resursy. [Central Asia divides water resources], "Nezavisimaya Gazeta", Moscow, 2013. № 2. P. 5-6.
4. O. Boyarkina. Problemy i perspektivy uregulirovaniya mezhdunarodnyh konfliktov v sfere vodopolzovaniya v Centralnoaziatskom regione. [Problems and prospects for the settlement of international conflicts in the field of water use in the Central Asian region]. Moscow, 2011, P. 25-27, http://www.dipacademy.ru/ upload/iblock/ba5/Boyarcina_dissert2.pdf
5. Doklad OON o vodnyh konfliktah v mire. [United Nations Report on Water Conflicts in the World], 2013, 34p. http://www.un.org/en/index.html
6. A. Shustov. Etnoterritorialnye konflikty v Sredney Asia [Ethnoterritorial conflicts in Central Asia]. Moscow, 2012, P. 15-17. Laboratory of social and political development of the near abroad countries http:// ia-centr.ru/ publications/691/
7. Y. Sarukhanyan. Mozhet li Vyshegradskaya model stat osnovoy sotrudnichestva v regione [Can the Visegrad model be the basis for cooperation in the region?] Spb., 2015. P. 10-11, Forum of young experts of Central Asia, http://caa-network.org/cassions/wcontent/uploads/ 2015/06/June-paper.pdf.
8. Vodnye konflikty v Centralnoy Azii [Water conflicts in Central Asia] (Center for Strategic Assessments and Forecasts), Moscow, 2010, P. 14 http://csef.ru/en/politica-igeopolitica/326/vodnye-konflikty-v-czentralnoj-azii-5167 ... "
9. V Centralnoy Azii vozmozhny konflikty iz-za vodnyh resursov. [Conflicts over water resources are possible in Central Asia]. Moscow, 2010, P. 6 https://regnum.ru/news/polit/2132817.html
10. Mezhetnicheskie konflikty v Centralnoy Azii. [Interethnic conflicts in Central Asia]. Moscow, 2012, P. 4 http://www.warandpeace.ru/en/ analysis/view/19870/
11. P. Fayzullin. Pogranichnye konflikty v Centralnoy Azii [Frontier conflicts in Central Asia]. K., 2014, P. 10-11 https://www.ritmeurasia.org/news--2016-09-20--pogranichnye-konflikty-v-centralnoj-azii-poka-uvy-delo-obychnoe-25790
12. A. Kurtov. Vodnye konflikty v Centralnoy Asiaticu. [Water conflicts in Central Asia]. Moscow, 2015, 20 p. https://www.obozrevatel.com/
13. I. Kirsanov. Bitva za vodu v Centralnoy Azii [The Battle for Water in Central Asia], Moscow, 2013, № 12, P. 8-9. - http://www.fundeh.org/ publications/articles/48/
14. A. Grozin, Strany SNG [CIS countries], Moscow, 2009, № 5, 17 p. http: //www.materik.ru/country/detail.php?DATE_ACTIVE_FROM= 20.06.2014& ID=53
AZIZ NIYAZI. RUSSIA - CENTRAL ASIA IN ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSIONS / / The article was specially written for the bulletin "Russia and the Moslem World."
Keywords: exploitation of nature, depletion of ecosystems, quality of life, environmental protection, distribution of water, land and energy resources.
Aziz Niyazi,
PhD (Hist.),
Senior Researcher of the Centre for the Study of Central Asia, Caucasus and the Urals-Volga Region of the Institute of Oriental Studies, RAS
There is a limit to the functioning of the economy due to the increasing exploitation of nature. This axiom is obvious under current technologies. Depletion of ecosystems with intensive consumption of resources causes serious disruptions in the life of societies. Many socio-economic models, whether developed or developing countries, are beginning to lose their prospects for
