Shared security in central asia: challenges towards sustainable development

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shame are also important values.

Takhir Burkhanov, The Academy of Armed Forces of the Republic of

Uzbekistan Senior Lecturer, Department of Humanities

SHARED SECURITY IN CENTRAL ASIA: CHALLENGES TOWARDS

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

T. Burkhanov

Abstract: This article reflects on the path to the establishment of

international and regional cooperation in solving global and regional
problems, the concept of national and regional security, on increasing the
threat to international and regional security today, on the existing
Uzbekistan’s strategy among the Commonwealth countries.

Keywords: Globalization, genesis, economic, geopolitical, moral,

cultural, environmental, linguistic, communication, socio-military relations,
threat-strategy-security, retrospective, military-administrative sectors.

“Our such increasing cooperation today is becoming an important factor

in ensuring regional security and stability, peace in our common Central
Asian home”, underscored President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev in
his greeting message on the 28th anniversary of the Armed Forces and the
Day of Homeland Defenders[1].

Indeed, enhanced collaboration among all states in the region of Central

Asia is a fundamental basis of shared security that guarantees predictable
sustainability – a key condition for progressive economic development, for
which every nation in Central Asia is desperate for without an exception.

Under current realities of increased interconnectivity between states no

country can afford a luxurious condition to stay aside from common
processes of increasing political, diplomatic, trade and economic ties with
their immediate neighbors and countries further beyond. Even such a
devastating pandemic as COVID-19, which has paralyzed the civil physical
global communication, has not been strong enough to halt back the trade
relations, the basis of globalization. However, it remains a good topic for
further discussion as a separate issue.

Going to the roots of the globalization, most researchers studying the

historical genesis of the globalization process identify the beginnings of
globalization starting from the ancient world with the first efforts of
powerful states to conquer more lands and ultimately the world using
initially “military, but gradually turning in the course of civilization,

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economic, geopolitical, moral, cultural, environmental, linguistic, and
communication forms of globalization” [2]

Main driving force towards globalization has not changed since the first

humans tried to satisfy their basic needs - feed themselves to continue
hunting. In order to maximize their efficiency individuals made groups,
groups made tribes, and the expansion went until nations and countries
were formed. As people's basic instincts for survival, the demand of
economic needs, and the desire to change their lives have led to the
expansion of the geography of social relations.

At the same time, military marches were a political instrument of

globalization and matched specific interests. Therefore, in the context of
globalization in general, the socio-military in particular, it must be
acknowledged that not only their political goals but also their humanistic
needs played a major role in expanding the boundaries of integration.
Military aggression, however, has never been in line with humanistic
principles.

One of the main driving forces of globalization has always been the

inability of nation-states to solve certain issues that are interconnected with
different actors[3] (Sklair, 1991, 1999). The phenomena of globalization is
not a new concept, it has evolved a result of progress over the several
thousand years[[4] (Hall, 2000a: 6). With the industrial revolution of the
18th century, countries started to be proactive in their economic integration
to the world, where big companies played a pioneering role[5] (Chase-Dunn,
1999).

In the contemporary world, globalization is both opportunity and

threat, nations due to their strength or weakness, maturity or fragility can
either benefit or lose the global integration[6] (Ripsman & Paul, 2005).
Currently, there are several serious challenges that shade the further
progressive development of the regions like Central Asia.

The first can be considered as continuous instability, one like in

Afghanistan. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoev has always paid a
key attention to the integration of Afghanistan to the region of Central Asia,
which should have its obvious positive effect in solving decades-long
stability issues in the country, hence in the region. In his speech, President
Mirziyoyev stressed that the region's problems could not be solved without
the Afghan government and representatives. Also, Tashkent called on the
U.S. President Donald Trump to work closely to address the Afghan problem.
Uzbekistan stressed that it is always ready to improve the living standards
of the fraternal Afghan people, and that it would further facilitate economic
and social development. Our country is promoting important initiatives to
stabilize the situation in neighboring Afghanistan and has been instrumental

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in implementing various UN programs on socio-economic reconstruction of
Afghanistan.

Moreover, Shavkat Mirziyoev urged the UN High Commissioner to

cooperate in maintaining stability in Central Asia as it is one of the key
factors in changing military and political security in the region. The
"remnants" of international terrorist groups are still carrying out covert
operations in Afghanistan. In addition, Central Asian countries are becoming
an integral part of the drug trade. This is (and remains to be seen) a very
dangerous situation in the context of the national security of the region,
which means that the territory of the region will become an area of drug
consumers, not just a transit route. It is worth noting the activities of the UN,
SCO and other international organizations to ensure peace and stability in
Afghanistan.

Uzbekistan also has a significant contribution to this. In particular, to

solve the problem of Afghanistan under the auspices of the United Nations
on the "6 + 2" group of member states in July 1999, "Tashkent Declaration
on basic principles of settling the conflict in Afghanistan" was adopted. The
UN Security Council recognized the outcome of the Tashkent meeting as an
important step towards a political solution to the Afghan problem.

Another serious threat to the security of the Central Asian states is the

existence of religious extremist groups, which aim to undermine the
constitutional order of the countries in the region. Therefore, it is necessary
to counter this threat using both national, regional and international
methods and tools. Several structures have been established and are
working to address these issues to some extent. Among them SCO and
Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are covering the entire
region with its immediate neighbors Russia and China.

Existing regional security structures in Central Asia, by their very

nature, are still undergoing considerable changes, because these systems
are not fully complete. Therefore, it would be extremely wrong to conclude
that these systems are the best choice for Central Asia. When all the
countries of the region solve and unite the existing problems in the region,
the security system for Central Asia will demonstrate itself effective and
viable.

A hot topic until recently with real conflict potential in the regions

remains the use of transboundary water resources. The question of whether
a new atmosphere of good neighborliness policy emerged in Central Asia,
mainly due to President Mirziyoyev’s ‘Neighbors first policy’, has addressed
the issue of transboundary water resources remains open.

In order to collaborate together to increase the overall benefit to all,

regional actors have been illustrating some signs of regional integration. We
have witnessed informal summits of the presidents of Central Asia in

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Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Some say it may be the initial step towards the
re-establishment of a regional multilateral div that can serve as a platform
to solve intraregional issues without external players.

Security, as we know, is addressed by the threat-strategy-security

formula. The creation and consolidation of any national security system is
based on how we perceive a particular threat or potential enemy. In most
cases, the enemy is one or more of the neighboring countries.

Therefore, the development of a security system by one side, even for

the sake of defense, and the development of the security system as a whole,
is simultaneously perceived by the neighboring state as a threat to its own
security. In its turn, this neighboring state will seek to strengthen its security
system and increase its military potential.

As a result, we may even face competition from neighboring countries

that are not hostile to each other. In this case the "security dilemma" arises:
Increasing A's own military power will result in the response of B, which
means that A will continue to grow his power in response to B's actions[7].

It can be seen that the security dilemma can lead to mutual distrust of

nations, arms race, and military strategic and geopolitical combinations of
various, including high-risk. The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan
Shavkat Mirziyoev also said: “As you all know, at present, cruel competition,
contradictions and conflicts are becoming more acute in the world. Threats
to religious extremism, terrorism, drug addiction, human trafficking, illegal
migration, and "mass culture" are undermining the centuries-old beliefs and
family values of humanity. It is true that such and many other threats pose
serious problems in human life, and no one can deny that"[8].

National security is an integral part of regional security. It is impossible

to ensure absolute national security. This is also confirmed by the security
dilemma. A relatively stable and robust national security system can be
created in conjunction with neighboring states, especially with countries in
the region that have specific and common threats. The concept of national
and regional security cannot be separated from each other in the context of
Central Asia.

At the national level, all countries in the region are simultaneously

facing the threats faced by the regional states. It is often said that Central
Asia suffers from constant external geopolitical pressure and that they are
consumers of security, not security producers[9].

This long-term paradigm implies that if the countries of the region are

not sufficiently self-sufficient in the field of security, they will need external
security assistance. As a result, a “security services market” was created in
the region, as F.Tolipov said, and various “umbrellas” were offered,
depending on the historical and current geopolitical situation. This is
making the region a hub for geopolitical “games”.

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Further development of regional cooperation in Central Asia depends

on the ability of countries in the region to withstand many of the existing
threats collectively, finding more reasons to complement each other and
create a healthy atmosphere of moderate economic competition. It has
never been such a time of positivity in relations of all Central Asian states in
recent history. It is a unique opportunity to strengthen fundamentals of
regional security and cooperation as never before.

References:
1. Mirziyoyev, Shavkat. “The President’s greeting message on the 28th

anniversary of the Armed Forces and the Day of Homeland Defenders”.
President of Uzbekistan. The Administration of President. 14 Jan 2020,
https://president.uz/en/lists/view/3290.

2. Yuldasheva, F. Methodological problems of researching the process

of globalization. / Social opinion. Human rights. 2008. № 2

3.Sklair, Leslie (1999). “Competing Conceptions of Globalization,”

Journal of World-Systems Research,
(http://csf.colorado.edu/wsystems/jwsr.html) 5: 2 (Spring), pp. 141-159.
Sklair, Leslie (1991). Sociology of the Global System. Baltimore: Johns
Hopkins University Press.

4. Hall, Thomas D. (2000a). “World-Systems Analysis: A Small Sample

from a Large Universe,” in A World-Systems Reader: New Perspectives on
Gender, Urbanism, Cultures, Indigenous Peoples, and Ecology, Thomas D.
Hall, ed. Boulder, CO: Rowman & Littlefield, pp. 3-27.

5. Chase-Dunn, Christopher (1999). “Globalization: A World-Systems

Perspective,” Journal of WorldSystems Research, 5: 2 (Spring), pp. 176-
198, http://csf.colorado.edu/jwsr.

5. Norrin M. Ripsman and T. V. Paul. International Studies Review. Vol.

7, No. 2 (Jun., 2005), pp. 199-227

7. Tolipov F. The big strategy of Uzbekistan in the conditions of

geopolitical and ideological transformation of Central Asia. Fan, 2005. p14-
15

8. Speech of the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoev at the Fourth

Congress of the Kamolot Youth Social Movement. Khalq Suzi, July 1, 2017.

9. Central Asia Seminars.

st

GCSP-OSCE Academy Workshop: “Central

Asia 2008” .Geneva Papers. Geneva Center for Security Policy, 2008. p.13.