LA-BAS COMME AILLEURS.(suite, mais pas fin.) (...) In Soviet times, infrastructure planners regarded the Fergana valley as an undivided whole. Since independence, and especially since an outbreak of Islamist-related violence in the valley in 1999 and 2000, Western donors have aggressively pushed the idea that modern, sovereign states need clearly defined borders. They have funded a new generation of infrastructure, including roads and power lines, that avoids crossing borders. This may indeed help fortify and centralise the new nation-stations, but the piecemeal projects do little to bring harmony to the fractured communities. Donors have also pumped tens of millions of dollars into the region’s border services, which are famous for corruption and low morale. America has spent over $200m on military assistance to Tajikistan since 2001 and over $250m on military aid to Kyrgyzstan. In Tajikistan, the recipients include elite troops accused of human-rights abuses and drug trafficking, as well as, in the words of a former American ambassador, the local dictator’s personal “Praetorian Guard”. Eager to maintain its influence in the region, Russia has promised over a billion dollars’ worth of weaponry to the two countries this year. In exchange, it will expect the right to keep military bases of its own in both. Kyrgyz and Tajik officials sometimes like to profess an ancient friendship between their peoples. But Anna Matveeva, a research fellow at King’s College London who specialises in the Fergana, says the protracted border-delimitation process is increasing the potential for conflict. The danger, she says, is that a local quarrel could drag both countries into combat. Villagers are now “psychologically ready to fight”. (...)
Posted on: Thu, 03 Apr 2014 09:34:54 +0000
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