Seminar Portfolio
Drug Trafficking in Central Asia
Since 2000, opioid drug abuse has risen by 200% (Kounang, 2015). The dramatic increase can be attributed to the rise in Central Asian States’ drug trade. Drug trafficking in Central Asia has grown into an industry worth billions of dollars across the world organized into production, distribution, and market (Peyrouse, 2012). The growth of this business has resulted in a linear increase in insecurity felt on a global scale (Engvell, 2006). As such, the international community has taken significant steps to intervene in the Afghanistan and Central Asian drug trafficking situation. The United Nations Organization for Drug Control (UNODC), the European Union, the US, and Russia have been on the forefront in spearheading the fight against drug trafficking. The UNODC intends to strengthen its role in the region while the EU wishes to increase its finding in border management in the areas. On the other hand, the U.S has chosen to step up the Central Asian Counternarcotic Initiative while Russia wants to assume the head of the new International anti-drug campaign in association with NATO (Peyrouse, 2012). Although these efforts by the international community seem glamorous, they do little regarding addressing the situation on the ground.
A simplistic outlook in solving the situation in the region assumes that narcotics and terrorism are intrinsically linked. A deeper look at the matter, however, shows the different levels of participation by the multiple individuals involved. Asian authorities use three color coded groups to represent the three levels linked to the trade (Peyrouse, 2012). Green refers to a lower level of trafficking, which is characterized by clandestine Islamic movements that self-finance their operations (Peyrouse, 2012). The returns made by these groups are relatively small. The next level is color coded black, which consists of small criminal groups moving minimal quantities. The group also comprises individuals transporting the drugs at high personal risk. The third level, Red, involves large, more organized structures. This group contributes to the greatest share of the drug trafficking activities. Officials engaged in fighting the drug war focus mainly on the green and black levels, which contribute to a minuscule percentage of the drugs as opposed to the Red level. The reason for this is because high-ranking officials in government protect these organizations (Peyrouse, 2012). Relevant organizations should understand the main perpetrators of the problem if they are to combat the situation. In doing so, the relevant bodies can finally disrupt the central distribution mechanisms.
The direct association of trafficking and Islamist insurgency is unfair for the communities involved (Engvall, 2006). According to Peyrouse (2012), Afghan farmers lack alternative agricultural opportunities. Therefore, warlords and the patronage mechanism exploit this situation and existing administrative apparatus to place the bulk of the blame on the insurgency. UNODC figures of 2009 confirm this case as the traffickers made an estimated $2.2 billion while the insurgency only got $155 million (Peyrouse, 2012). Therefore, Russia’s demand that NATO goes directly after production is misplaced as there is an apparent confusion between the insurgency and the trafficking rings. The involved international community should focus their efforts on other aspects of the supply chain. In doing so, the farmers will be left with agronomic options while the supply is crippled, which will provide a fair solution on the ground.
Drugs from Afghan find their way to all corners of the globe as a result of the “spillover” effect to the Central Asian States, which makes it challenging to intervene in the situation (Madi, 2004). In the neighboring countries that include Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, there is a significant addiction problem. Tackling this issue is very challenging as all these countries are former Soviet states. The old Soviet society placed medical and psychiatric domains under law enforcement agencies although they still have significant influence of the current health system in these countries (Peyrouse, 2012). Therefore, there is an inclination to treat drug addicts as criminals. In some of these countries, it is a regulation that facilities submit a list of known drug users to the authorities, which evidently complicates the treatment process. The first approach toward the drug abuse problem revolves around on abstinence and zero tolerance. Consequently, drugs in the region have created problems that the existing mechanisms in these countries are ill-equipped to address.
Indeed, global opium use has tripled in the last 17 years. This rate can be directly correlated to the production in Afghan, the primary source of the drug. The increase has caught the attention of the international community, which seeks to intervene in different ways. Key participants in this enterprise seem to enjoy protection from above, and from an outsider’s perspective, it is easy to confuse terrorism for drug trafficking. Therefore, in addressing the situation, it is unjust to go after the farmer as opposed to eradicating the supply and storage infrastructure.
The New Great Game
As Fatima and Zafar (2014) posit, Central Asia is the heartland of world politics (p. 168). However, over the past decade, Central Asian states have been struggling with a myriad of issues; key among them is political instability, which has contributed to the collapse of various infrastructures necessary for the countries involved. Most of the countries in this region have recovered or are in the recovery processes after NATO’S withdrawal (Kim and Indeo, 2013). However, Afghanistan still struggles despite its many strategic advantages. This knowledge has prompted Russia, China, and the United States, among other countries, to start “the new game” for the scramble of the region.
In this game, Russia’s geographical location provides a strategic advantage over China and the U.S. The country has three primary interests in the Afghanistan and Central Asia. The first one is to safeguard its age-old influence in the region. In order to achieve this objective, Russia blocks the invasion of the area by other countries (Kubicek, 2013). Second, Russia hoped to eliminate the nuisance caused by Islamist radicalism and insurgency, which tantamount to terrorism (Pikalov, 2014). The strategy for accomplishing this goal involves the use of an authoritarian political system in the area (Kubicek, 2013). The stern approach is because instability in this region threatens different economic activities. Thirdly, Russian has also set up camp in Turkmenistan and exports the gas from Afghanistan, which makes the country a key economic partner. With its hold in this country, Russia can efficiently expand its interests in the entire region.
Due to China’s high energy demands, the Central Asian region’s reserves serves as a chief economic interest. A constant supply of energy from the area will ensure continued growth in China’s economy. Besides oil, the region has a variety of other resources such as silver, magnesium, and gold. Consequently, these resources will make China strengthen its already existing influence in the region.
The United States, on the other hand, has four principal interests in the area. These interests are checking the control of the other players in the region, creating a monopoly of resources by monitoring available reserves, eliminating radical insurgency, and advocating for western democracy (Blank, 2012). To cement its foothold in the area, the US plans on signing trade agreements and enhancing bilateral diplomacy with Afghanistan. The United States is also sponsoring fair elections in the region, judicial reforms, as well as encouraging the process of embracing civil rights (Blank, 2012). Moreover, the US has a strong base in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan. Therefore, using these bases, the U.S places itself in the region to pursue its interests.
Moreover, with individual interests from the US, China, and Russia, there are three dimensions to this game: geo-economics, geopolitical, and geostrategic. The region is arid, which makes it hard to produce food and have stable economies (Rasizade, 2002). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asian countries were, therefore, unable to stand on their own as evidenced by the progressive decline in their GDP (Heathershaw and Megoran, 2011). Consequently, the “new game” players see the opportunity to invest in the area economically, thus, the geo-economic dimension. However, the investments are a cover as their prime interest is the region’s resources.
The geo-political dimension involves the area’s position regarding the political arena. The foremost concern here is the Central Asian States’ strategies to find their place in world politics. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the smaller countries left seem important politically for a few reasons. The total landmass of these countries is approximately four million square kilometers and is home to about 60 million people (Fatima and Zafar, 2014 p633). Geographically, the region borders Russia to the North, China to the East, and the relative proximity to Pakistan and Iran, which face political instability. In addition, two countries in the region hold a significant portion of the Caspian Sea known to possess vast oil reserves (Kubicek, 2013). Accordingly, whichever country controls the region will have considerable political power in the Middle East, China, and the entire world in general.
The geostrategic position is closely related to the geopolitical dimension. Here, the three players are interested in the physical location of the region concerning the domain’s powers. Even though the region is landlocked, it has access to almost every supper power on the continent and, thus, the name The Heart of Eurasia (Hanks, 2009). This proximity to major super powers makes the region attractive to the players involved.
Reflection
Due to my participation in the presentation, various perspectives challenged me intellectually. To be more specific, the economic situation in Kazakhstan has made me reflect deeply on two baffling subjects. The presenter’s presentation on the topic, their response to my questions, the group discussion and the plenary class discussion all helped shape my opinion about the scholarly articles as well as the subjects.
Over the course of the seventh week, I read more on the week’s topic on Pomfret (2005). The journal was an intriguing find in academic literature. Most of my opinions on the topic were influenced greatly by his work. The book painted a vivid picture of the situation in Kazakhstan’s economy after the collapse of the Soviet Union all the way to 2004. Of major significance to me is the wealth of data the author provides to back up his work. The Journal had an authentic feel as I could empirically follow up on his arguments. While doing my reading, two main questions came up: First, whether Kazakhstan suffered from the resource curse, and secondly, what external power profited from the region’s abundance of natural resources. The development of the first question was inspired by the economic curve made by the country between the time of its independence and 2004. The previous link between the county’s natural resources infrastructure and other nations in the region prompted me to ask the second question. Therefore, as a result of reading the journal, I was driven to come up with the two issues during the presentation.
The presenter on the topic seemed to be proficient in the subject matter of the topic. Over the presentation, a few of issues were clarified for me, while the rest was confirmed according to my knowledge. The clarified issues were the effects of the various handicaps that oil industry in Kazakhstan faced during the 1990’s. The clarification on the matter pressed me to ask the first question even more. My reasoning is that the two were related as understanding a country’s history one can predict its future. As a consequence of the presentation, my question about the Kazakhstan resource curse was better shaped in the clarification of issues regarding the county’s past. Thus, it helped me shape my opinion on the overall debate around the topic.
The response given by the presenter in relation to my questions was very helpful. My previous knowledge about the resource curse in view of Kazakhstan helped me paint a better picture during the presentation. I also had the same experience in the group discussion that followed. From the reading, I took away new information about the various ways an oil boom can cause a country’s economy to crumble. The plenary discussion, on the other hand, was a good platform to air out my opinion on the matter. This session was also challenging as I got to hear the different views from other groups. Besides, some of the viewpoints were very illuminating while others confirmed my knowledge on the matter. Accordingly, the responses from the presenter, the group discussion, and the plenary discussion were helpful and interactive ways to learn more on the topic.
Bibliography
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Heathershaw, J. and Megoran, N. (2011). Contesting danger: A new agenda for policy and scholarship in Central Asia. International Affairs, 87(3), pp.586-612
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Rasizade, A. (2002). The New Great Game: Entering the old ‘great game’ in central Asia after Afghanistan. Turkish Journal of International Relations, 1(2), p.41-58.
