"Just War" and the Contemporary Art of Justifying the Unjustifiable

Abstract

This article assesses the recent application of "just war" criteria by Charles Reed. It is clear Reed has uncritically supported Anglo-American power by omitting a great deal of counter evidence and by misrepresenting opposing views. Some consideration is given to the ways in which intellectuals can unintentionally support violence and power.     

The Aral Sea Crisis and Its Future: An Assessment in 2006

An American geographer and noted international authority on water management problems in Russia and Central Asia presents an account of an expedition, in late 2005 (under the sponsorship of the National Geographic Society) to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, focused on the Aral Sea. The steadily drying inland sea, with a surface area of 67,500 km² in 1960, had split into two parts and shrunk to 17,380 km2 in 2006. The paper provides an up-to-date overview of the crisis and presents an optimistic scenario of the sea's future, noting development of economic activities (particularly fisheries) in its surrounding settlements. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O13, Q15, Q25. 6 figures, 1 table, 55 references.     

An unusual aperture in a child's calvaria from western Central Asia: differential diagnoses

The partial remains of a child's cranium were examined as part of a three‐year research project investigating the health and population movements of prehistoric communities in western Central Asia. Differential diagnoses are provided for an unusual aperture observed at the bregma. Possible aetiologies for the aperture include congenital and developmental defects, pathological alterations, surgical intervention, trauma and post‐mortem changes. The lesion presented in this article is interesting in terms of the contribution it makes to our understanding of the types of possible diseases that existed in the past, in this relatively understudied part of the world. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The technological development of stonepaste ceramics from the Islamic Middle East

The microstructures and chemical compositions of stonepaste bodies from the Islamic Middle East, typically produced from a mixture of ten parts crushed quartz, one part crushed glass and one part white clay, are investigated using analytical scanning electron microscopy. For comparison, replicate stonepaste bodies are produced in the laboratory at firing temperatures in the range 900–1200 °C, and are similarly examined. The stonepaste bodies are divided into four primary microstructural groups that reflect the increasing reaction during firing of the glass fragments with the clay and quartz particles. The observed microstructures are then used to assess the geographical and chronological variations in the production technology of stonepaste ceramics from Egypt, Syria, Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkey, spanning the period from 11th to 17th centuries AD.     

Eurasian Natural Gas: Significance and Recent Developments

A noted American specialist on the economies of Russia and major republics of the former Soviet Union explores and discusses the natural gas resources of Central Eurasia and the political and economic issues raised by their general inaccessibility. Central to these issues are the international pipelines required to bring this increasingly important energy source to meet growing world demand, and their intimate connection to the security of all the nations involved. The author explains why they are complicated by the growing, yet still largely potential, competition from a world LNG market driven by new technologies, and hence natural gas sources, outside of Central Eurasia. Each of the major actors in this arena—from the producer states and their national energy companies to the high-income consuming states with an increasing demand for natural gas—are pursuing frequently conflicting strategies to ensure their energy supplies and income security. Addressing the major developments thoroughly, the paper focuses in particular on the strategies of Russia/Gazprom, the Central Asian producers, and the transit states, as well as on the pipelines, both actual and potential, that intertwine them.     

Interethnic Tensions in Kyrgyzstan: A Political Geographic Perspective

Two U.S. geographers review an array of intertwining political geographic issues that provide context and set the stage for deadly armed conflict between groups of ethnic Uzbeks and Kyrgyz in the southern Kyrgyzstan city of Osh in June 2010. Applying a disaggregated and localized approach to understanding the ambiguous and complex factors underlying the current instability in Kyrgyzstan, they focus on: the role of north-south political competition; the country's uneasy economic relationship with its western neighbor, Uzbekistan; widespread official corruption and the penetration of organized crime into government structures; as well as broader geopolitical issues. The latter include Tashkent's policy toward the Uzbek diaspora, perceived threats from international terrorism/Islamist fundamentalism, the potential for the export of a "color revolution" to Uzbekistan, the presence of U.S. and Russian military forces in Central Asia, and the relative ineffectiveness of regional security structures such as the Collective Security Treaty Organization.     

Regional and Thematic Index, 2002-2007

A U.S.-based political scientist specializing in the complexities of international freshwater basins considers the role of two fundamental factors (geography and relative power) in the study of hydro-politics. Conventional analyses claim that in asymmetric contexts the more powerful state (in relative power terms) is able to dictate the status quo. Arguing, however, that such traditional (and even some critical) analyses tend to downplay the importance of geography, the author investigates how a state's physical position along a river may provide an otherwise weaker riparian state the means to challenge the status quo. The paper considers three cases (Tigris-Euphrates, Nile, and Aral Sea basins) with lessons for the study of power in hydro-politics.     

How Capitalism Was Built. The Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe,Russia, and Central Asia. Anders Åslund

An American political geographer and noted specialist in the electoral geography of the post-Soviet states explores the extent to which underlying social, political, and economic conditions in North African countries experiencing regime change prompted by mass political unrest (Egypt, Tunisia) resemble those prevailing in the five Central Asian states. The author compares the countries' rankings on a number of relevant indicators (e.g., Human Development Index, Corruption Perceptions Index, Freedom House indices of political rights and civil liberties) before undertaking a more qualitative assessment of human rights, institutional control, and external support for current Central Asian regimes. Although Uzbekistan, the most populous state with the most repressive regime in the region, is a focus of attention, the same abuses and challenges are evident, albeit in varying degrees, in other vulnerable post-Soviet countries of Central Asia.     

Luminescence chronology of the medieval citadel of Termez,Uzbekistan: TL dating of bricks masonries

Among the dating methods in archaeology, thermoluminescence (TL) is widely developed. The present research concerns the construction chronology of the citadel of Termez (Uzbekistan) in the medieval period. On the methodological side along the TL study, we had to take into account two decisive factors that are expected to affect the accuracy: control of anomalous fading on the polymineral fraction (quartz and feldspars) and the effect of thermal treatments on the luminescence properties of the dated material. With regard to the determination of the annual dose, difficulties, associated with the evolution of the radiochemical composition of the dated samples and their environment over time, were overcome.     

Authors and Authoritarianism in Central Asia: Failed Agency and Nationalising Authoritarianism in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan

Abstract

This paper aims to reconstruct widely accepted concepts of the top-down authoritarian nature of Central Asian politics in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan through a comparative study of the pro-democratic movements that emerged in the late 1980s. By analysing data from interviews with the cultural elites of the late Soviet perestroika period and data on the indigenous nationalist movements such as Erk, Zheltoksan, Birlik and others, we question why such nationalist movements did not “survive” or emerge as a significant political platform as promised in post-independence Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and why they failed to change the political outlook of one party rule or the dominance of one nationalising regime. Furthermore, we analyse how such nationalist movements had an opportunity to turn into semi-democratic movements but failed to transform after their agenda (arguably, independence) was achieved, leaving “communists-turned-nationalists” to continue their policies in newly formed countries. Thus, the paper also looks at how these cultural elites eventually contributed to the local “authoritarianism” and lack of plurality in views and identifications.