EUCAM Policy Brief


1 - 19 of 19

Human Security in Central Asia: can the EU help out?
31 October 2011
Sébastien Peyrouse

The European Union is a security actor in Central Asia, although with less influence than other players. Russia and China have a much larger impact on Central Asian regimes’ security strategies. These limitations do not dispense with the need for the EU to provide a better security narrative, especially in light of its growing emphasis on human security, and to incorporate this into the current review of its strategy for the region. This policy brief will centre on the EU’s contribution to human security in Central Asia.

Involving Central Asia in Afghanistan's future - what can Europe do?
15 August 2011
Marlène Laruelle

The EU argues in its Central Asia policy that it wants to take greater account of Afghanistan. But what does this mean in practice? There is a case for engaging the Central Asian states beyond agreements over supply and material transport routes to Afghanistan. Central Asian states themselves have the most to gain from a stabilised Afghanistan. Cultural ties and the increasing economic linkages between Central Asia and Afghanistan need to be taken into consideration so that Central Asian states can be assisted in playing a positive role in Afghanistan together with Western actors.

Kyrgyzstan: Balancing on the Verge of Stability
25 July 2011
Anna Matveeva

Following the ‘revolution’ in April 2010, the subsequent interethnic violence in June and the recent international inquiry into these events, Kyrgyzstan is not in safe waters yet. The coming period leading up to the Presidential elections will be important for the country’s stability. What is the current situation in the South of the country, which saw clashes between Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, and what are the expectations for the presidential elections? Is Kyrgyzstan on the road to democracy, and what role can external actors play?

The EU's Rule of Law Initiative for Central Asia: From Initiative to More Substance?
30 June 2011
Martin Schuster

All five Central Asian states are weak in terms of rule of law, good governance and democracy. The EU chose to devote specific attention to the rule of law through a regional initiative with Central Asian partners' participation. What is the current state of the initiative and is the EU on track?

Is the EU-Central Asia Strategy running out of steam?
24 May 2011

Jos Boonstra, Michael Denison

The EU’s Central Asia Strategy approaches its fourth anniversary. In that time the EU has placed its relationship with Central Asia on a more structured footing. Although progress has been made in building dialogue and in furthering engagement, the strategy’s limitations are increasingly obvious. This brief argues that the driving force of the EU engagement should be based on a closer link between security and development.

The EU-Central Asia Human Rights Dialogues: Making a Difference?
29 April 2011
Vera Axyonova

Structured human rights dialogues are held with each of the five Central Asian republics. They are designed to discuss questions of mutual interest and enhance cooperation on human rights as well as to raise the concerns of the EU on human rights in Central Asia. In addition, the dialogues seek to involve human rights activists, NGO members, and academia representatives from both Europe and Central Asia through civil society seminars. But is this working? Is improvement in human rights noticeable in the region?

The 2010 OSCE Kazakhstan Chairmanship: Carrot Devoured, Results Missing
29 April 2011
Vladimir D. Shkolnikov

This brief looks at Kazakhstan’s chairmanship through the prism of the EU’s relations with Central Asian states and examines what lessons the EU can draw from the Kazakhstan chairmanship. The OSCE Chairmanship and the agreement to hold the 2010 OSCE Summit in Astana, despite it not having a Summit-like agenda were significant ‘carrots’ given to Kazakhstan. Did these carrots bring any results, and is there any reason to offer more such carrots to Kazakhstan or to other Central Asian states?

Strategic Water Resources in Central Asia: in search of a new international legal order
31 May 2010
Stephen Hodgson

The allocation and use of the water resources of Central Asia is one of the most difficult issues to arise out of the break-up of the Soviet Union. How should the waters of the great Central Asian rivers, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, be used? To generate much needed hydropower electricity in the mountainous countries in which they arise? Or for irrigation in the energy-rich downstream countries? The aim of this paper is to describe the basic problem and the efforts undertaken both by the Central Asian states and the international community, including the EU, to seek a resolution.

Into EurAsia: Monitoring the EU’s Central Asia Strategy: Executive Summary and Recommendations

26 February 2010

Michael Emerson, Jos Boonstra, Nafisa Hasanova

The EU’s Central Asia Strategy was introduced in 2007 in order to upgrade the EU’s cooperation with the five states of the region. One of the objectives of EUCAM was to assess and monitor the implementation of the EU’s Central Asia Strategy. This policy brief serves as a summary of the EUCAM Report Into EurAsia - Monitoring the EU's Central Asia Strategy, by Michael Emerson, Jos Boonstra, Nafisa Hasanova, Marlene Laruelle and Sebastien Peyrouse.

The EU Strategy for Central Asia says ‘security’. Does this include Security Sector Reform?
30 November 2009
Jos Boonstra

Central Asia faces a broad range of security challenges. Due to the region's position at the crossroads between Russia, China and Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the Caspian Sea it is confronted with a range of trans-national issues such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, organised crime and terrorism. Central Asia also encounters specific regional threats including scarcity of water resources for generating power and irrigation purposes, which is currently causing tension.

The EU's Rule of Law Initiative in Central Asia
14 August 2009
Rico Isaacs

The EU's Rule of Law Initiative is intended, on the part of the EU and member states, "to support on-going modernisation of the legal sector, as part of a more comprehensive strategy to foster and consolidate stability, prosperity and respect for human rights in Central Asian countries". Rule of Law is now being viewed as a key policy goal amongst international development actors. Economic growth, political modernisation and the ability to attract foreign investment hinges, in part, on strengthening rule of law in transitional states.

The EU's Approach to the Development of Mass Media in Central Asia
23 July 2009
Gulnura Toralieva

In spite of positive developments in terms of human rights, the rule of law and democratisation in Central Asia following the adoption of the European Union (EU) Strategy for Central Asia in June 2007, the state of the mass media continues to deteriorate in all five countries in the region. This policy brief identifies tendencies and problems affecting the development of free media outlets in Central Asia and proposes ways and means through which the EU could engage to improve the situation.

Central Asia and the Global Economic Crisis
23 July 2009
Richard Pomfret

In 2007, the EU published a Strategy for a New Partnership with Central Asia. In its initial stages the EU focused on developing new forae for dialogue with the Central Asian countries, and received some criticism for inadequate substantive actions. This Policy Brief argues that the current global economic crisis does not alter the priorities of the EU Strategy, but it does require the EU to stick to existing obligations and also provides an opportunity for fresh initiatives to better achieve the Strategy’s fundamental goals.

The EU and Uzbekistan: Short-Term Interests versus Long-Term Engagement
23 July 2009

Sukhrobjon Ismailov, Balazs Jarabik

After fifteen years of independence, there are practically no democratic institutions in place in Uzbekistan. Four years after the 2005 Andijon crackdown and the subsequent Western sanctions, almost nothing has changed and the European Union (EU) is struggling to establish a credible policy towards the ‘heart of Central Asia’. Uzbekistan is not an easy or predictable partner; on the contrary, it is full of (self-) importance.

Energy Emergency in Kyrgyzstan: Causes and Consequences
19 February 2009
Shairbek Juraev

Kazakhstan and the South Caucasus corridor in the wake of the Georgia-Russia war
29 January 2009
Nargis Kassenova

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline links Azerbaijan and Georgia to European energy markets but has also opened up a transit corridor for resource-rich Central Asian states. Kazakhstan has increasingly used this westbound route for its oil exports but was startled during the August cionflict between Russia and Georgia. This EUCAM Policy Brief assesses the impact of the war on Kazakhstan’s plans of ’going west’.

Facing the Challenges of Separatism: The EU, Central Asia and the Uyghur Issue
29 January 2009
Sebastian Peyrouse

The EU Strategy for Central Asia @ Year One
08 October 2008

Neil Melvin, Jos Boonstra

In July 2007, the Council of the European Union adopted “The EU and Central Asia: Strategy for a New Partnership” signaling the EU’s ambition to initiate a fundamental shift in its relations with Central Asia through, for the first time, linking general political goals to a concrete working prospectus in the region. The Strategy sets itself a high bar for achievement, identifying a broad range of priorities for the future relationship between the EU and the states of region.

The ‘Food-Energy-Water’ Nexus in Central Asia: Regional Implications of and the International Response to the Crises in Tajikist
08 October 2008
Matteo Fumagalli

This paper provides an evaluation of the current food security crisis in Central Asia and links it to the broader water crisis experienced by Central and South Asia forming an ‘energy-water-food security nexus’. Although all the Central Asian republics are to varying extents affected by growing fuel and goods prices, it is Tajikistan that has experienced the most acute situation, which has plunged about a fourth of the population (2 million) in a food security crisis.