The aims of the study are to explore and compare the Balochs' way of life as an ethnic minority in Turkmenistan and north-eastern Iran and as an indigenous population in Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan since the early 20th century and to study cultural change in the Balochs in the context of state intervention. The ethnogensis of the Balochs as a nomadic Indo-Iranian ethnic group without their own state was shaped by many external and internal influences. The most fundamental are changes in the political organization of states which the Balochs experienced throughout history. Due to poor living conditions, disruption of their original way of life and the need to ensure land and pasture for cattle, some Balochs living in historic Sistan along what is now the Turkmen-Iranian border migrated to Turkmenistan and to north-eastern Iran in the early 20th century. This thesis compares the Balochs' current way of life and with that after their arrival in new territory and examines the cultural transformation of these two groups in the context of state intervention. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The study works with the paradigm of energy security of supply in the context of three Central Asian republics; Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. It focus on the relations related to gas and oil. The subjects are analyzed from the point of their own energy strategy, institutions' efficiency as well as position in the energy market. The analysis deals with the main external actors; Russia, China and European Union. A great stress is laid on the evolution in gas and oil trading and the energy infrastructure in the region. Problems of relation between energy, security and politics are included. I try to cover the main trends in the gas and oil market and put them in the context of Central Asia. My conclusions limit the popular scheme of russian dominance and stress the growing cooperation with China, in contrast to EU. However, the growing interconnection of the euroasian gas market is also very important.

Mein Bericht berührt ein Thema, das geographisch über die Grenzen Europas hinausgeht: Turkmenistan liegt bekanntlich in Zentralasien. Auch wenn die Entwicklungsspezifik des postsowjetischen geopolitischen Raumes dazu führte, dass sie territorial zu Asien gehören, neigen die ehemaligen mittelasiatischen Sowjetrepubliken gleichzeitig traditionsgemäß zur europäischen Seite und zu den europäischen Institutionen. Ihr Beitritt zur Organisation für Sicherheit und Zusammenarbeit in Europa darf niemanden wundern: So ist die Realität, die natürlich in erster Linie mit der sowjetischen Periode ihrer Geschichte verbunden ist. Aber nicht dies brachte mich auf den Gedanken, das Thema zu beleuchten, auf das ich hier aufmerksam machen möchte. Es geht darum, dass wir heutzutage, zu Beginn des 21. Jahrhunderts, in Turkmenistan auf ein erstaunliches Phänomen treffen: auf den Versuch eines aus den Scherben des sowjetischen Systems hervorgegangenen autoritären Regimes, den natürlichen Gang der Entwicklung der nationalen Kultur als Ganzes und der Musikkultur im Einzelnen umzukehren, anzuhalten und bis zur Unkenntlichkeit zu verfälschen.

In the graduate qualification work of a student the tourist potential of one of the most closed destinations in the world is considered. The cultural background, natural and geographical features are studied, the transport infrastructure is characterized. / В выпускной квалификационной работе магистранта рассматривается туристский потенциал одной из самых закрытых дестинаций в мире. Изучается культурный бекграунд, природно-географические особенности, характеризуется транспортная инфраструктура.

Il dissolvimento dell'Unione Sovietica, alla fine del 1991, ha avuto un impatto di straordinaria rilevanza sull'Asia Centrale. Se il controllo di Mosca sull'area portò alla formazione di entità statuali con confini artificiali e caratterizzate dalla presenza al loro interno di un intricatissimo melting pot etnico, il crollo dell'Urss ha fatto sorgere un inedito scenario geopolitico. Il vuoto di potere registrato nel centro asiatico, infatti, ha generato una serrata competizione diplomatica tra i principali attori del sistema internazionale, ansiosi di accrescere la propria influenza sulla regione. Ciò sulla base dei principali fattori della sua rilevanza strategica, primo fra tutti quello energetico. Prendendo le mosse da tali considerazioni, il progetto di ricerca – utilizzando un approccio storico-politico – mira ad analizzare la geopolitica dell'energia relativamente al Turkmenistan, paese che dispone delle quarte riserve mondiali di gas naturale. Sulla base, da un lato, delle peculiari caratteristiche di tale risorsa e, dall'altro, dell'impatto del suo possesso sulla sfera politica interna e la proiezione internazionale della Repubblica centro asiatica, ci si propone di stabilire se quest'ultima abbia la possibilità di accrescere in futuro il proprio ruolo geopolitico, diventando un attore al centro delle dinamiche strategiche regionali e globali. / The crumbling of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 has represented a decisive moment for Central Asia. Moscow's control over the area favoured the formation of state actors characterized by artificial frontiers and an extraordinary ethnic mix. On the other hand, the soviet dissolution has led to a new geopolitical situation. The lack of power experimented in the region has generated an international diplomatic race, with the main state actors eager to increase their influence over Central Asia. This mainly due to the strategic relevance of the area, especially related to the energy dimension. By starting from these assumptions, the research project aims to analyze – by adopting an historical-political approach – the geopolitics of energy with reference to Turkmenistan, a country that has at its disposal the fourth biggest reserves of natural gas globally. On the basis of the specific properties of this raw material on the one hand, and of the impact of its possession on the turkmen political sphere, on the other, the issue is defined. The goal is to establish whether Turkmenistan has the chance to increase its future geopolitical role, becoming an actor at the heart of regional and global strategic dynamics.

The Central-Asian region, in current geo-political signification understood as the territory of five Post-Soviet states: Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and partially of Kazakhstan, has went through a very rich and colorful historical development. During this development it has absorbed many different culture impulses and influences that helped the region to develop conditions for the formation of a distinctive artistic expression. To a certain extent, we can observe continuity in the development of traditional arts and crafts professions since early historical times until today. Among the most important craft branches we need to mention textile production, involving carpet weaving, processing of felt, fabrics and embroideries, and also artistic metal processing represented particularly by the jewelry production and last but not least, ceramics production. Arts and crafts have always had a very important position in the history and culture of Central Asia. Craftwork has been a subject of trade for a very long time period here, this fact being enhanced by the geographical position as well, since the region is situated on the route of the famous Silk Road. Arts and craft production, which comprised of common goods but also exclusive products of high artistic value, intended for the...

This thesis deals with the phenomenon of Central Asian foreign fighters in Syria, 2011- 2017. It analyzes their radicalization, recruitment, and travel patterns. Special emphasis is placed on tracking the home states' responses, including elements of de-radicalization and counter-radicalization. The thesis has found that there is arguably no single factor explaining the Central Asian fighters' radicalization; nor is there a typical profile of a Central Asian fighter. Available data suggest that radicalization and extremist recruitment most often occur in Russia. Furthermore, the analysis of travel patterns has shown that the majority of Central Asian fighters traveled to Syria either indirectly via multiple countries (again, most often Russia) or directly from their country of origin, and then crossed the border from Turkey. The thesis concludes that all five Central Asian states have adopted policies to address the perceived security threat of returning foreign fighters, whereas the hard, restrictive and punitive approach has been prevalent all across the region.

This diploma thesis deals with conflict prevention in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Its aim was to compare its relevance and results in the both countries. In doing so, the first theoretical section outlined the way of assessing conflict potential, which conditions and justifies applying preventative measures. This was examined in terms of Copenhagen school and its broaden meaning of security, whereas the paper focused on the political, economic and societal dimension. Then the notion of conflict prevention was framed within terminological and historical context and considered in terms of its trends and current challenges. At the end of the theoretical section, the concepts if security dimensions and conflict prevention were discussed in terms of their applicability for the case studies of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Afterwards, the empirical section researched the conflict potential and preventive actions of international organisations, states and non-state actors in the both countries. Analytical part evaluated the empirical data in order to assess conflict prevention in the both states. In doing so, I used SWOT analysis, which defined strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of conflict prevention in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. The results can be summarised as follows: The character...

The presented doctoral thesis analyses energy security in the Central Asia region, with an emphasis on the natural gas sector. The research sought to answer the question of whether individual state actors in Central Asia are more inclined towards a strategic-oriented or market-oriented approach to energy policy in the formulation of their respective energy policy. Answering this research question aimed at better understanding the approach of individual state actors to large infrastructure projects, such as the construction of the Central Asia-China Gas Pipeline. A regional energy security complex of Central Asia was constructed for work purposes. In addition to the five Central Asian states, it also includes Russia and China as two major natural gas importers from the region. Based on theoretical literature, a model for assessing the natural gas sector in terms of the formulation of energy policy by individual state actors was developed. This model was subsequently applied to three case studies of key state actors within the Central Asian regional energy security complex. These are case studies on Turkmenistan, Russia and China. Applying the model's criteria to individual cases, the research concluded that for all three players in the Central Asian regional energy security complex, a...

This thesis examines the influence of state identity narratives on regional cooperation frameworks in Central Asia. It applies the perspectives of ontological security theory to the self-articulation of state identities of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan to decipher socialization mechanisms in each of the cases. Consequently, it traces the routinization of the state narratives of Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan toward the region and regional organizations. Ontological security theory argues that, in addition to physical security, states seek ideational security, security of identity and security of being. Using a grounded theory approach to study the formation of the state narratives of Kyrgyzstan and of Turkmenistan and utilizing official and media sources and interviews conducted during fieldwork, the thesis analyzes the process of routinization of state identity narratives, showcasing the narrators, the narratives and the processes of self-articulation. The key process that is traced is the routinization of the state narratives, i.e. the sequence of repeated actions (inter-textualized through speech acts and textual references) that transform the self-articulated stories of the states into the realm of the habitual. This process of routinization is then analyzed within the regional context, examining how these routinized narratives influence inter-state cooperation in Central Asia. As such, the thesis contributes to two main bodies of literature: the growing literature on the ideational aspects of regional cooperation in Central Asia; and existing research on the role of state identification practices in the foreign policies of Central Asian states.