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Editor's Note
Sébastien Peyrouse
~~ Commentaries ~~
Spain and Central Asia: Prospects for 2010
Nicolás de Pedro
During the first six months of 2010, Spain holds the European Union Presidency. At the same time Kazakhstan would be chairing the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and Uzbekistan would be chairing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). This triple coincidence has awoken numerous expectations in the three capitals, due to, on one hand, the prospect (...)
Notes on the Chinese Government’s Handling of the Urumqi Riot in Xinjiang
Yuhui Li
China is facing the daunting task of finding appropriate measures to deal with the aftermath of the bloodiest ethnic violence in decades in Xinjiang on July 5, 2009. The riot took place in Urumqi, the region’s capital city, and caused the deaths of nearly 200 people and injury to at least 1,700. On December 30, 2009, nearly six months after the riot, the information office of Xinjiang announced that internet services (...)
Reassessing the SCO Economic Security in the Context of the “Afghan Factor”
Azganush A. Migranyan
In the light of contemporary political and economic threats such as terrorism, economic and financial crises, shortages of resources, and global environmental problems, regional security issues have been elevated to paramount importance. But while the need to establish regional economic security among the Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states (...)
Competition for Water Resources in Central Asia and its Impact on China
Li Lifan
Water has unique features that make it difficult to regulate using laws designed mainly for land. Water is mobile, its supply varies by year and season as well as location, and the same source can be used simultaneously by many users. The National Analysis and Research Group from the Chinese Academy of Sciences published its eighth research report in 2009 (...)
~~ Analytical Articles ~~
Peeling the Waziristan Onion: Central Asians in Armed Islamist Movements in Afghanistan and Pakistan
Peter Sinnott
The specter of a force of close to five thousand Uzbek Islamic militants throughout the Tribal Areas of North and South Waziristan was presented to a Pakistan senate committee in September 2009 by Senator Muhammad Ibrahim Khan. The history and motivation of the Central Asian forces that have been in Waziristan (...)
Central Asia and the European Union: Prospects of an Energy Partnership
Luba Azarch
Launched in 2007, the “Strategy for a New Partnership” has increasingly put Central Asia into the focus of European foreign policy. Seeking to combine a regulatory and developmental approach with its interests in the economic, energy, and security realms, the EU hopes to deepen the relationship with the region. The following analysis will deal with the European ambitions (...)
Between Russia and the West: Turkey as an Emerging Power and the Case of Abkhazia
Laurent Vinatier
Turkey’s foreign policy finds itself in transition. Considering the new emerging context and the constraints that Turkey faces, it is essential to assess the real determinants which would transform Turkish foreign policy to encompass a more pro-active, independent, and regional strategy. Abkhazia, since its recognition by Russia on August 26, 2008, is examined here as a case study. South Caucasian issues (...)
Turkey in the Eurasian Energy Security Melting Pot
Thrassy N. Marketos
This article focuses on the theoretical, but also realistic, question about Turkey’s future geostrategic orientation. More precisely, the question of whether Ankara will play a role in the international arena as a bridge maker between Washington’s political realism and the EU’s soft power, or whether it will instead pursue a new Ottoman nationalism (...)
The Three Blind Spots of Afghanistan: Water Flow, Irrigation Development, and the Impact of Climate Change
David W. Rycroft and Kai Wegerich
The article discusses the three blind spots of northern Afghanistan: water flow, irrigation development, and the impact of climate change. Consideration is given to the different data sets for the current irrigated areas, water resources, and future potentials according to identified projects in northern Afghanistan. The water accounting programme WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning System) has then (...)
