D3: Dams and State Borders in Central Asia – Pre-programmed Conflicts?

Dr. Beate Eschment (ZOiS) and Dr. Henryk Alff (HNEE)
Foto: Dam Failure in Uzbekistan in Sardoba, May 2020 © NASA Earth Observatory images by Lauren Dauphin, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS/LANCE and GIBS/Worldview

Description

The issue of access to and the distribution of water triggers many local, regional and international conflicts in arid Central Asia. Dams and water reservoirs can be a particular source of controversy, especially if they are located close to a border or are even transboundary. Project D3 aims to examine the potential for conflict associated with two such dams/water reservoirs as well as the conflict resolution strategies pursued in each case. To this end, we analyse the representations and attitudes of state institutions, (state) media and the affected local population on both sides of the border.

The first case study is the Sardoba water reservoir in northern Uzbekistan, only a few kilometres from the border with Kazakhstan. A breach of the dam on 1 May 2020 also flooded localities and agricultural land in Kazakhstan. After initial intergovernmental tensions, an amicable solution was found at the highest level. However, relatively little is known about the views of the affected population.

The second case study deals with the Kempir-Abad/Andizhanskiy reservoir on the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in the Fergana Valley. Its territorial affiliation was already disputed during the Soviet era – and still is today. A border treaty ratified at the highest level in autumn 2022 despite many opposing votes, stipulates that the territory of the reservoir will fall to Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan will receive about four times that land area elsewhere in exchange. However, the initially local protests against this in Kyrgyzstan have now developed into a domestic political crisis that shows no signs of being resolved.

Key questions

  • Which local and national discourses interact in public debates on the role of and conflicts around dam(s) and reservoirs in Central Asia?
  • What are the implications of these negotiation processes for conflict resolution?
  • What conflict-reinforcing and conflict-mitigating factors can be identified?
  • What conclusions can be drawn regarding the construction of new dams?

Methodology and sources

  • Discourse analysis
  • Expert interviews
  • Interviews with local stakeholders and citizens

Project team

Dr. Beate Eschment

Beate Eschment is an expert on Central Asia and has been a researcher at ZOiS since 2016.

She gained her PhD in Russian history at the University of Hannover in 1992. Since then, her research has focused on contemporary developments in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. She has worked at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Ebenhausen, the Central Asia Seminar at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Institute for Oriental Studies at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, and the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen. From 2008 to 2019, she was the editor of the Zentralasien-Analysen. She has taught at various German and Central Asian universities, including the German-Kazakh University and the Al-Farabi University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and the Bishkek Humanities University in Kyrgyzstan.

CV Beate Eschment

Dr. Henryk Alff

Henryk Alff is a postdoctoral researcher, at TRANSECT research group at HNEE

Henryk Alff studied Human Geography, Slavic and Central Asian Studies at the University of Potsdam, Humboldt University Berlin, the Kazakh National University Almaty and the Pedagogical University Dushanbe and received his doctorate from University of Potsdam focusing on the role of transnational social networks of Mongolia’s Kazakhs in post-Soviet migration and integration processes. After that, he was postdoctoral researcher, among others, within the BMBF-funded competence network Crossroads Asia at the Centre for Development Studies of Freie Universität Berlin and Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, as well a co-editor of of the online journal ‚Zentralasien-Analysen‘.

Dr. Henryk Alff

Henryk Alff is a postdoctoral researcher, at TRANSECT research group at HNEE

Henryk Alff studied Human Geography, Slavic and Central Asian Studies at the University of Potsdam, Humboldt University Berlin, the Kazakh National University Almaty and the Pedagogical University Dushanbe and received his doctorate from University of Potsdam focusing on the role of transnational social networks of Mongolia’s Kazakhs in post-Soviet migration and integration processes. After that, he was postdoctoral researcher, among others, within the BMBF-funded competence network Crossroads Asia at the Centre for Development Studies of Freie Universität Berlin and Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research, as well a co-editor of of the online journal ‚Zentralasien-Analysen‘.

Dr. Beate Eschment

Beate Eschment is an expert on Central Asia and has been a researcher at ZOiS since 2016.

She gained her PhD in Russian history at the University of Hannover in 1992. Since then, her research has focused on contemporary developments in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. She has worked at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP) in Ebenhausen, the Central Asia Seminar at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Institute for Oriental Studies at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, and the Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen. From 2008 to 2019, she was the editor of the Zentralasien-Analysen. She has taught at various German and Central Asian universities, including the German-Kazakh University and the Al-Farabi University in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and the Bishkek Humanities University in Kyrgyzstan.

CV Beate Eschment

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