The Post-Soviet Decline of Central Asia
Sievers takes on the task of explaining the remarkable economic declines of the post-Soviet Central Asian States (Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) in the past decade, and the turn of these states towards despotism. In 1990-1992 optimistic hopes for achieving transition to free markets, democracy and sustainable development were voiced. Instead, there has been a continued worsening of the serious environmental problems of the Soviet Union in its last decades.\...
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Sievers takes on the task of explaining the remarkable economic declines of the post-Soviet Central Asian States (Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan) in the past decade, and the turn of these states towards despotism. In 1990-1992 optimistic hopes for achieving transition to free markets, democracy and sustainable development were voiced. Instead, there has been a continued worsening of the serious environmental problems of the Soviet Union in its last decades.Dismissing explanations of the decline as the result of 'Asian' or 'nomadic' values as simplistic and opportunistic, the author makes use of extensive fieldwork to explain this decline as the result of the region's unbalanced stocks of natural, physical, human, financial organizational, and social capital, exacerbated by the influences of development agencies, environmental NGOs, scientists, corrupt local politicians, and the inequitable downside of globalization symbolized by the WTO. Drawing on recent development in economics, law and political science, as well as a wealth of local sources, the book presents a compelling and unorthodox challenge to development agencies, scholars and human rights organizations to realize the implications of globalization and the challenges of sustainable development.
Glossary of terms and abbreviationsIntroduction: Central Asia in transition - the capital of sustainable development11Natural capital: the Central Asian human and natural environment302Human capital: health, education, and science in Central Asia503Formal organizational capital: governments and markets704Social capital: civil society and solidarity915International environmental regimes and international environmental law1246Case studies: internationalizing the Central Asian environment156Conclusion: prospects for sustainable development in Central Asia194Notes207Index245
