the challenges facing landlocked developing countries: a case study ...

The country’s two major highways, from Dushanbe to Aini and Kalaikhum to Khorog, are
normally closed for five to six months each winter. In order to access this province during the
winter, freight must be routed through Uzbekistan, which presents the problem of border
closures. The Uzbek government has been described as using Tajikistan’s dependence on
Uzbek roads for political leverage. Many though this was the case when, after opening the
Tajik transit roads in early 2000, the Uzbek government closed them again in December of
that year and cited independence anniversary preparations as the reason.
Tajikistan has also suffered from its lack of a road corridor linking to the Chinese road
network. Despite facing severely constrained budgets, Tajikistan has begun constructing a
road link to China and the Karakorum Highway, as well as a tunnel that will directly link the
northern and southern parts of the country. As of 2001 this road had not been completed.
Rail
Not only is Tajikistan’s rail network limited by its mountainous terrain, but the design of the
Soviet transport system has also been largely inappropriate for the emerging trade patterns
among new republics. The remnants of the Soviet network are in fairly good condition, but
remain concentrated in western Tajikistan. The rail system thus lacks links to emerging trade
corridors, especially China, while traditional links to Russia now require administratively
burdensome passage through at least two other countries.
For transit trade, the three primary rail lines are: (1) crossing the northern Fargana Valley
from Andijan (Uzbekistan) through Khojand (Tajikistan) to Samarkand (Uzebkistan); (2)
passing south from Dushanbe through Uzbekistan to Termiz at the Afghan border; and (3)
directly south from Dushanbe to Tugul on the Aghan border. Afghanistan’s lack of railways
and Uzbekistan’s aforementioned restrictions have hampered all three of these corridors.
Ports
Tajikistan uses the Baltic Sea ports (primarily Riga), Russian ports (e.g., Novorossiysk) and
European ports including Bremerhaven (Germany). These ports do not pose any significant
constraints to Tajikistan’s trade flows.
POLITICAL RELATIONS
Ethnically and culturally diverse, Tajikistan has suffered extensively from both internal
conflict and tensions with its neighbors. Comprised largely of Russian, Uzbek, and Islamic
ethnic groups, Tajikistan has witnessed extensive external involvement in its internal affairs
as each of the surrounding regions has attempted to exert the greatest influence: Russia,
seeking to protect its ethnic minority, is described as having actively involved itself in
Tajikistan’s internal affairs. Uzbekistan is said to have done likewise. As the Federation of
American Scientists describes the situation, “neither state [Uzbekistan or Russia] has
behaved as if it considered Tajikistan a genuinely sovereign and independent country.”
Such underlying ethnic and political tensions manifest themselves in Tajikistan’s bloody civil
war, which began in 1992. The war split the countries and its neighbors along religious and
ideological lines (Islamic and Communist), and is considered one of the bloodiest wars to
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