Articles tagged with: Central Asia federalism
Photograph by Flickr user Jackanapes (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: As the new year approaches, neweurasia debates whether an economically and politically unified Central Asia makes sense (much less if it’s even possible). neweurasia’s Annasoltan discusses whether the new pipeline to China will bring the region’s leaders closer together — or tear them apart.
Is the new gas pipeline drawing Central Asia’s leaders — normally the uneasiest of neighbors in the best of times — closer? I asked some experts for their opinions.
Image by Flickr user Bret Polok (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: As the new year approaches, neweurasia debates whether an economically and politically unified Central Asia makes sense (much less if it’s even possible). Liberalism and regionalism will fail Central Asia just as Marxism did, argues neweurasia’s Averroes.
A lot of intellectuals in the West talk of Modernity’s “influence” on Central Asia and the “problem” thereof. According to their erudite view, globalization is making a “core-periphery” or “hub-spoke” mess out of the region — developing world money just gets sucked into rich world pockets.
These intellectuals like to say that they are giving a “Left” analysis or some such, and that only a “Left” solution can really fix things. But there’s nothing really especially Leftist about it. This interpretation can be both Marxist or Liberal.
Image by neweurasia's Schwartz (CC-usage).
Editor’s note: As the new year approaches, neweurasia debates whether an economically and politically unified Central Asia makes sense (much less if it’s even possible). H.B. Paksoy (D. Phil., Oxford University) explores the possibility of applying a federal model to the region.
Earlier this year, neweurasia‘s Schwartz proposed a single Central Asian currency (“super-som”) as the solution to some of the region’s woes. If this happened, it would be the first step toward establishing a United States of Central Asia — it’s an idea that gets floated around every now and again, including by the region’s leaders. Well, here are my two cents.
Central Asian politics often bears too close resemblance to a game of buzkashi. For this reason, we forget that statecraft here has deep roots. Several governance manuals from the 10th Century and even earlier are still extant and give us insight into the oldest currents of political identity in the region.
The color of money: Kazakh tenge (photo by Irene2005, Creative Commons usage)
Okay, so the photo is of tenges, not soms, I know, I know. But “Super-Som” sounds a lot prettier than “Super-Tenge”, the far more likely candidate for the foundation of a common Central Asian currency, and, besides, you get my point: could the global recession make the idea of a single currency for the ‘Stans more attractive?
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