Is it really different? Patterns of regionalisation in the post-Soviet Central Asia (original) (raw)
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The region that isn't: China, Russia and the failure of regional integration in Central Asia
Asia Europe Journal
The failure of regionalism in Central Asia is a puzzle. Whereas almost all world regions have seen a rise of regional organisations since the end of the Cold War, attempts to establish durable regional cooperation among Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan proofed unsuccessful. Although some of the Central Asian countries participate in wider regional organisations like the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), the genuine Central Asian Cooperation Organisation (CACO) was dissolved in 2005. Given the cultural, economic and political similarities between the five Central Asian countries, this lack of a regional organisation is surprising. In contrast to previous work, this paper argues that the failure of regionalism in Central Asia is not so much due to domestic political factors, but more to the extra-regional economic dependence of the regional economies and the impact of external powers within Central Asia. Challenged by the rise of China, Russia uses the EAEU in order to preserve its hegemonic influence over the former Soviet Republics. By joining the Russian dominated EAEU, Central Asia's regional power Kazakhstan enjoys economic benefits which outweigh the potential gains of Central Asian cooperation within CACO by far. Consequently, Kazakhstan follows its extra-regional interests in closer cooperation with Russia at the cost of regional cooperation with its Central Asian neighbours. As a result, the Central Asian countries are unable to build up a unified regional block in relation to extra-regional powers like China or Russia.
The Eurasian Union and the reconstitution of the regional order in Central Asia
This paper looks at various political and economic initiatives that together constitute the evolving Eurasian Union project, which brings together Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan with smaller Central Asian states. It attempts to build a theoretical framework for the conceptual mapping of changes in the regional order in the post-Soviet Central Asia, while examining the evolution of the regional integration process there and the impact that the relations between Russia and China may have on this process..
Regionalism and Regionalization in Central Asia
World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering, 2013
This article is dedicated to the question of regionalism and regionalization in contemporary international relations, with a specific focus on Central Asia. The article addresses the question of whether or not Central Asia can be referred to as a true geopolitical region. In addressing this question, the authors examine particular factors that are essential for the formation of a region, including those tied to the economy, energy, culture, and labor migration. Keywords—Central Asia, integration, regionalization,
Regional integration among the post-Soviet states: Eurasian and West-oriented regionalisms
2015
Researchers studying regional integration among the post-Soviet states often encounter a problem of defining a region under study. The term post-Soviet lost its appeal as more than twenty years passed after the break down of the USSR. The societies in the former Soviet states have developed very distinct interpretations of the Soviet past. While Soviet legacy is often praised in Russia, it is part of dark colonial past for many other states that emerged after the collapse of the USSR. Some research centers and societies have moved towards using the term Central Eurasian, which seems to cover almost all former Soviet states but avoids referring to Soviet legacy. The difficulties in defining the region lead to a conclusion whether it is necessary to try to come up with one term to replace the aging post-Soviet concept. The objective reason to replace or abandon the use of post-Soviet adjective arises from different regionalization processes ongoing within so-called post-Soviet area. To date, it is possible to speak of two main regionalism projects, Eurasian regionalism and West-oriented regionalism.[
Central Asian Integration and Its Impact on Regional Trade and Economy
Country Experiences in Economic Development, Management and Entrepreneurship / Proceedings of the 17th Eurasia Business and Economics Society Conference – Springer, 2016. , 2016
Central Asian region includes five Former Soviet Union republics such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. All countries follow totally different national development strategies. While Kazakhstan and Kyrgyz Republic are outward looking and the most integrated to world economy, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan keep isolationism policy. Since 1991 many Preferential Trade Agreements have been signed in Central Asia. However, the countries could cooperate in only a few areas. Majority of these agreements led to more conflicts and contradictions, which became the beginning of Central Asian disintegration. All countries of the region in their trade policies have largely followed the path of policy autonomy. Thus, this paper analyzes the impact of integration agreements on the regional trade and economy of Central Asia with the special focus on Kazakhstan. The paper also covers the analysis of possible impact of the newly created Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU...
2014
Introduction Post-Soviet Central Asian states, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have emerged as separate units in the international system after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Their geographic proximity, close ethnicity and languages of their nationals 1 , similar religion, shared history (both preceding and during Soviet period), common resources and Soviet era infrastructure (such as water and transport links) provide wide range of grounds for cooperation. However, in the decades after independence, regional cooperation between these young states has frequently been stagnant. Moreover, pre-existing Soviet ties have, in many instances, been severed. “The main economic interests of Central Asian states lay outside the region. In 1999, only 3.1% of Kazakhstan‟s [the largest central Asian economy] trade turnover was with [other Central Asian states], and in 2009 – 2.7%.” 2 The trade between Central Asia states has not reflected sharp increase in the t...
Regional integration remains a hot topic of research on Central Asia, although the actual progress of regional integration remains at a very low level. While state and social level integration have been well-researched, economic actors (such as entrepreneurs, companies and corporations) as the major clients and consumers of regional integration have been largely overlooked. This paper scrutinises perceptions among economic actors in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Based on 430 interviews and within the scope of the hypotheses presented, the authors conclude that the majority of economic actors see little or no use in integrating with their neighbours, even though the literature on this issue depicts numerous benefits derived from regional integration. Thus, the authors provide several policy recommendations that should assist in tackling prevalent practices in the countries under investigation.
Central Asia's Affairs
Integration issues in Central Asia have been on the agenda both at the national and regional levels for three decades. New geo-economic and geopolitical realities that have arisen along the perimeter of the region and affect the region itself actualize the need for more confident and intensive integration. Despite the sufficient potential for cooperation and common problems in the region, the process of rapprochement between countries is rather slow. Along with this, there is a constant discourse both at the intergovernmental level and at the level of the expert community about the main factors and approaches. The key factor, which is not yet a priority at the regional and bilateral levels, is the economic one. This article is devoted to some theoretical aspects of the analysis of integration in Central Asia through elements of a systematic approach, factor and event analysis, and focuses on the economic factor at the intraregional level.
2012
Russia and China are assumed to challenge democratization and to promote autocracy. In a first step, we analyze Central Asia as the most-likely case, considering both Russia and China as relevant external actors. We develop a concept for our analysis based on the different strategies of Russia (dominance) and China (doing-business) towards the region and present the results of a qualitative study of the main dimensions of autocracy promotion with respect to regional and bilateral schemes.