Changes in the Relationship Between Borders and Pastoral Mobility in Mountain Regions of Central Asia

Author(s):  
Andrei Dörre
Author(s):  
Lawrence P. Markowitz ◽  
Mariya Y. Omelicheva

This chapter examines low levels of terrorist violence in Muslim-majority societies. Studies of terrorism have tended to view the relationship between religion and violence through the narrow lens of security, thereby overpredicting the extent of terrorist violence across societies. After reviewing the various explanations for terrorist violence, and applying them to Central Asia, this chapter explores the conditions under which a state’s involvement in illicit economies—specifically its collusion in the drug trade—can dampen levels of terrorist violence. Combining quantitative analysis (including GIS-enabled tools) with a series of in-depth expert interviews conducted in Central Asia, it emphasizes the complex political economy of security that defines infrastructurally weak states, where political and security apparatuses are often immersed in informal and illicit economies. This approach helps uncover the complex links between religion and organized violence, where state apparatuses are often drawn into collaborative relationships with nonstate actors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Yongfang Xu ◽  
Zhaohui Lin ◽  
Chenglai Wu

Central Asia is prone to wildfires, but the relationship between wildfires and climatic factors in this area is still not clear. In this study, the spatiotemporal variation in wildfire activities across Central Asia during 1997–2016 in terms of the burned area (BA) was investigated with Global Fire Emission Database version 4s (GFED4s). The relationship between BA and climatic factors in the region was also analyzed. The results reveal that more than 90% of the BA across Central Asia is located in Kazakhstan. The peak BA occurs from June to September, and remarkable interannual variation in wildfire activities occurs in western central Kazakhstan (WCKZ). At the interannual scale, the BA is negatively correlated with precipitation (correlation coefficient r = −0.66), soil moisture (r = −0.68), and relative humidity (r = −0.65), while it is positively correlated with the frequency of hot days (r = 0.37) during the burning season (from June to September). Composite analysis suggests that the years in which the BA is higher are generally associated with positive geopotential height anomalies at 500 hPa over the WCKZ region, which lead to the strengthening of the downdraft at 500 hPa and the weakening of westerlies at 850 hPa over the region. The weakened westerlies suppress the transport of water vapor from the Atlantic Ocean to the WCKZ region, resulting in decreased precipitation, soil moisture, and relative humidity in the lower atmosphere over the WCKZ region; these conditions promote an increase in BA throughout the region. Moreover, the westerly circulation index is positively correlated (r = 0.53) with precipitation anomalies and negatively correlated (r = −0.37) with BA anomalies in the WCKZ region during the burning season, which further underscores that wildfires associated with atmospheric circulation systems are becoming an increasingly important component of the relationship between climate and wildfire.


Author(s):  
Peter Jackson

This chapter examines the conflicts among the Mongol successor-states that developed after 1260, along with the turbulent activities of nomads within such states and the measures of reconstruction that the various Mongol regimes put in place. It begins with a discussion of the Mongol empire's fragmentation into four virtually independent khanates, where the conquered Muslims of the empire were now divided: the dominions of the ‘Great Khan’ (qaghan) in China and Mongolia proper; the Ilkhanate in Iran, Iraq and Anatolia; the ulus of Chaghadai in Central Asia; and the ulus of Jochi in the western steppes. The chapter then considers the relationship between the khans and the qaghans, the problems of warfare between different Mongol khanates, and the Jochids' incursions into Ilkhanid territory. It also explores the impact of the inter-Mongol warfare upon the agrarian and urban economy of the Islamic world.


Author(s):  
Christopher I. Beckwith

This chapter considers the relationship of Early Buddhism to Chinese thought during the Warring States period (ca. 450 BC–221 BC). Chinese thought was in a nearly constant state of flux, if not turmoil, during the Warring States period, which began shortly after the death of Confucius. Ideas related to the Early Buddhism attested in the fragments of Pyrrho and Megasthenes are clearly present in Warring States writings, especially Early Taoist texts, including the Laotzu, the Chuangtzu, as well as the anonymous Jade Yoga Inscription. Some of the Early Taoist material is approximately contemporaneous with Pyrrho and Megasthenes. It seems that this material's appearance in China is connected to the fact that Central Asia, including Bactria and Gandhāra, was part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire down to Alexander's invasion and conquest of the region in 330–325 BC.


Author(s):  
Nathan Spannaus

Qursawi’s stance on the attributes was shaped by trends in the theological tradition, as ideas from ibn ‘Arabi’s metaphysics became very influential in later kalam in Central Asia, incorporated into mainstream Sunni scholarship by figures such as ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami and Jalal al-Din Dawani. These ideas revolved around ontological issues, particularly of the relationship between God’s existence and the (non)existence of everything else. But this dichotomy left the status of the divine attributes in question, which Qursawi’s stance seeks to address. This chapter discusses how ibn ‘Arabi’s “school” influenced postclassical kalam in Central Asia, Qursawi’s criticism of that tradition, and how his thought responded to this influence. It focuses particularly on the work of Ahmad Sirhindi, who was a major figure in this setting, as Qursawi and most of his contemporary opponents were members of Sirhindi’s Naqshbandi-Mujaddidi Sufi order.


Author(s):  
Laura S. Ryssaliyeva ◽  
◽  
Vitaly G. Salnikov ◽  

Agrometeorological events that are dangerous for crops include droughts, dry winds, frosts, heavy rains, hail, strong winds, and dust storms. The most common and dangerous are droughts and dry winds.Drought is a natural phenomenon that is one of the most complex and least studied natural hazards, capable of causing irreparable damage to ecosystems with a wide impact on water resources, agricultural production, ecosystem functions, the environment, local and global economies. The article is a review that presents some of the most frequently and widely used drought indices and indicators in the last two decades, summarizes the results of atmospheric drought research using these indices, demonstrates the relationship between the occurrence of atmospheric drought in various regions of Central Asia and the characteristics of its severity depending on the types of large-scale atmospheric circulation. We compared meteorological and remote sensing indices and identified favorable indices for parameterization and monitoring of droughts. The papers presented in the review provide valuable scientific information and possible directions for further research on drought in Central Asia.


2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (01) ◽  
pp. 79
Author(s):  
Tauseef Ahmad Parray

Is Islam compatible with democratization in the context of Asian cultures? To address this important issue, a series of books have been published in the English language from 1990s (and especially from 2000s). Most of these books deal with the relationship between Islam, Muslims, and democratization with a sub-region in Asia: South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia. While others deal with same issues with a focus on the future, very few deal with the relationship between Islam, Muslims, and democratization in the context of Asian cultures from the perspectives of theory and empirical country studies from all three Asian regions. In this backdrop, this essay—by making an assessment and review of the literature, produced in the last decade, on this theme—focuses on the compatibility paradigm in South and South East Asian Muslim societies at the empirical level, with a focus on Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia. To achieve this objective, the essay follows the analytical and comparative methodology, and evaluates these four important books: Zoya Hasan (2007); Shiping Hua (2009); Mirjam Künkler and Alfred Stepan (2013); and John Esposito, Tamara Sonn, and John Voll (2016). A due support is taken from other related works (books and journal articles) as well in substantiating, supporting, and strengthening the argument(s) put forth in this essay.


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