Eurasianism and the Concept of Central Caucaso-Asia

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68 Eldar Ismailov and Vladimer Papava Turkmenistan, one of the world’s most closed 260 and undemocratic 261 states, has essentially distanced itself from the integration processes going on in Central Asia. 262 It has excluded itself and, referring to the country’s neutral status (enforced by a special resolution of the U.N. General Assembly in December 1995), Turkmenistan has refused to participate in any multilateral alliances, blocs, or organizations. 263 At the same time it should be noted that, in the 1990s, the false impression was created that its neutral status was supposedly enhancing Turkmenistan’s cooperation with international and regional organizations. 264 Afghanistan’s role in Greater Central Asia grew particularly after the beginning of the antiterrorist campaign in the country. 265 This was also reflected in the drawing up and implementation of international projects regarding this state and the whole of Greater Central Asia. 266 The current interpretations of Mackinder’s Heartland concept offer different assessments of the role and significance of Central Asia. For example, in counterbalance to the contemporary Russian Eurasianists, who, as mentioned above, believe that the Pivot Area and Russia are geographically one and the same thing, some experts from Central Asia accord Central Asia the status of Pivot Area. On the other hand, they consider Kyrgyzstan to be the heart, that 260 For example, Timur Dadabaev, “Living Conditions, Intra-Societal Trust, and Public Concerns in Post-Socialist Turkmenistan,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 4 (40) (2006), pp. 122-132. 261 For example, Azhdar Kurtov, “Elections in the Turkmenistan Power System,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 2 (38) (2006), pp. 99-105. 262 Murad Esenov, “Turkmenistan’s Foreign Policy and its Impact on the Regional Security System,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 1 (7), 2001, pp. 50-57 263 Sergey Kamenev, “Turkmenistan’s Foreign Policy,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 4 (16) (2002), pp. 75-85. 264 Ertan Efegil, Ayse Mine Olcay and Hüseyin Kıdık, “Cooperation Between Turkmenistan and International and Regional Organizations,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 3 (2000), pp. 87-99. 265 Murat Laumulin, “Central Asia After 11 September,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 4 (16) (2002), pp. 29-38; Saodat Olimova and Muzaffar Olimov, “Antiterrorist Campaign in Afghanistan and its Impact on Central Asian Neighbors,” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 4 (16) (2002), pp. 38-45. 266 For example, S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Afghanistan Policy: It’s Working (Washington, D.C.: Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, Johns Hopkins University-SAIS, 2004), ; Starr, “A Greater Central Asia Partnership.”
Rethinking Central Eurasia 69 is, the Heartland, of this territory. Still, they do not deny Kazakhstan’s and Uzbekistan’s affiliation with it as well. 267 There is also a slightly different interpretation of Central Asia’s location in the Heartland. According to this perspective, Middle Asia in its Soviet understanding is the extreme southern joint “inserted” into the Heartland. 268 Some experts think that one reason for these revisions is the antiterrorist operation in Afghanistan. As a result of the operation, Central Asia is seen as a region that in the future will not be covered by the Heartland or Rimland as a subordinate entity but, because of its strategic importance, will represent itself in the Heartland and Rimland. 269 The Central Asian countries have no direct access to the world oceans, and the influence this has on their economic development is a topic of great interest. Jeffrey Sachs, who believes that in the conditions of globalization economic prosperity could become a universal value, is nevertheless skeptical about the opportunities of the Central Asian states due to the existing geographic obstacles hindering the transportation of freight. 270 This view of the problem fits perfectly into the contemporary interpretation of the influence of geography on economic development under conditions of globalization. 271 Based on the study results, according to which shipping freight by land one additional kilometer is equal in cost to shipping the same freight by sea seven additional kilometers, it is concluded that those states located far from the coast encounter immense economic difficulties. 272 This does not mean that Central Asia is a dead end in the globalizing world. The 267 For example, Sayragul Matikeeva, “Mackinder’s Legacy: Was it a Prophesy?” Central Asia and The Caucasus, No. 4 (34) (2005), p. 25. 268 Ambrish Dhaka, “Mackinder’s Heartland and the Location of the Geopolitical Tetrahedron,” Central Asia and The Caucasus, No. 4 (34) (2005), p. 57. 269 Farkhad Tolipov, “Are the Heartland and Rimland Changing in the Wake of the Operation in Afghanistan?” Central Asia and the Caucasus, No. 5 (23) (2003), pp. 99-106. 270 Jeffrey Sachs, “The Limits of Convergence: Nature, Nurture and Growth,” The Economist, 14 June (1997), pp. 19-22. 271 Robert D. Kaplan, “The Revenge of Geography,” Foreign Policy, May/June (2009), ; Paul Krugman, Geography and Trade (Cambridge: MIT Press, 1993). 272 Ricardo Hausmann, “Prisoners of Geography,” Foreign Policy, No. 122 (2001), p. 46.
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