Central Asia performance review in land governance indices and assessment frameworks

Academic scholarship captures different land governance dimensions while focusing mainly on agrarian, legal, and economic aspects. However, little to no attention is paid to land governance consideration through public policy lenses. In particular, this holds for Central Asian (CA) countries where there is a noticeable lack of academic works on land governance effectiveness and anti-corruption strategies in the land sector. This review paper analyzes the question of how Central Asian countries are presented in land governance indices and assessment frameworks such as the World Bank’s Land Governance Assessment Framework (LGAF), Global Property Rights Index (Prindex), Global Land Governance Index (LANDex), and The Open Data Barometer. The paper uses the integrative review of academic works and the author’s empirical data on Central Asian performance in land governance indices and assessment programs. The findings revealed that while the Prindex results for the region are promising, the underperformance and lack of active engagement of Central Asian countries in the Open Data Barometer, LANDex, and LGAF are still visible. This fact could be explained by various reasons, including the lack of institutional and legal capacities in CA countries and the limitation in methodology and data collection techniques observed in present land indices. Considering that the subject is understudied, it is anticipated that this review paper will give both scholars and practitioners from the region and abroad the impetus to improve Central Asian performance in global land governance indices and assessment programs.

PUBLONS BASED PROFILING OF TURKISH REVIEWERS AND ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

Introduction: Publons is the most prestigious and well-organized platform that allows to evaluate peer review metrics. It also provides publication and citation data as it is synchronized with the Web of Science. There are socio-cultural ties between Central Asian countries and Turkey, and these countries can take Turkey as a model for scientific development. Therefore, it will be useful for Central Asian countries to summarize Turkey's Publons activities. In this study, we used Publons database to list the top institutions, researchers and reviewers in Turkey. Methods: Publons database was used to export the data on October 10, 2021. The top 20 researchers were identified in terms of the number of verified reviews. Additionally, the top 20 institutions were determined in terms of the number of researchers, number of verified reviews and top reviewers. Results: On Publons, 57464 registered researchers from Turkey were found (ranked 7th) and 484 of these researchers had top reviewer status (ranked 16th). A total of 175644 verified reviews were detected from Turkey-based researchers (ranked 16th) and of which 45835 were performed in the last 12 months (ranked 14th). Based on the total number of researchers, four institutions from Turkey were in the top 100 in the world rankings (Hacettepe University, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, and Cukurova University). There were no institutions from Turkey among the top 100 in the lists created according to the number of verified reviews and top reviewers. Conclusion: Turkey has a considerable number of researchers registered with Publons. However, Turkey should follow a scientific route in terms of verified reviews. Turkey and Central Asian countries can create scientific collaborations and cooperative projects. Thus, Central Asian countries will benefit from Turkey's experiences.

Communication regimes in Central Asian countries: a scientific discussion

The article contains the main ideas expressed by Russian and foreign participants in the international scientific discussion on the topic «Communication regimes in Central Asian countries». The discussion was held by National Research Institute for Communications Development. Studies of communication regimes conducted on the basis of the author’s methodology revealed: (1) asymmetry of actor models of communication regimes in Central Asian countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan); (2) pronounced etatism and policy of state regulation and control of processes and structures of public communication; (3) specifics of social engineering of communication regimes based on securitization of issues of ethnic cultural and national identity; (4) attempts to update communication regimes that have not yet attained serious success. In the course of discussions, scientists from Central Asian countries offered their research materials and keynoted: the role of cultural and religious factors in the formation of communication regimes; the influence of the financial basis of mass media on their structure and media discourse; frequent borrowings of the content from foreign information channels. Russian experts noted: artificially accentuated problems of «historical trauma» in the information space in the Central Asian countries; changes in communication formats within the context of COVID-19; the importance of studying communication regimes in the context of ensuring collective information security, the need to develop common terms and concepts for Russia and Central Asian countries in the drawing up the legislation on communication and information.

THE FOREIGN POLICY OF THE CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES: THE RESULTS OF 30 YEARS OF DEVELOPMENT

After gaining independence in 1991, the Central Asian states, which had no experience in conducting independent foreign policy activities, began to build their own foreign policy coordinate system and develop its conceptual framework. Given their unique geopolitical position and diverse resource potential, the regional states preferred to pursue an open and multi-vector foreign policy, which allowed them to realize their national interests. With regard to the transformational processes in global politics and economy, as well as the geopolitical characteristics of their states, the political elites of the regional states have developed their own approaches to foreign policy. The article analyzes the doctrinal foundations of the Central Asian countries’ foreign policy, and the influence of global factors on the foreign policy formation of the regional states and intraregional cooperation.

PERCEPTIONS OF CHINA AND OTHER GREAT POWERS AMONG KAZAKHSTAN AND KYRGYZSTAN YOUTH

This article studies the perception of great powers in the eyes of students in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan using data collected through an online survey. The research has compared the perceptions of China’s and other Great Powers’ economic, political, and military authority among the youth of Central Asian countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. To analyze these perceptions, young people from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan (N = 262) took part in a survey in the spring of 2021. Responses were analyzed to reveal the differences in perception by applying descriptive and inferential statistical methods, i.e., one-sample t-test. An association of geodemographic factors with the perception towards global powers was discovered by applying the chi-square test statistical method. The early research revealed that the role of the other Great Powers was seen mainly in political terms, while China’s role was mostly economic, however, recent studies made it clear that China’s political influence is increasing in the region. Another finding from this research is that China’s position on human rights and environmental issues is more negatively perceived than that of the other Great powers.

CENTRAL ASIA: THE BUMPY ROAD TOWARDS POLITICAL MATURITY

Following the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the new Central Asian independent states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan replaced the Soviet republics of Central (Sredniaia) Asia and Kazakhstan. By the time they gained independence, these countries had already developed specific mechanisms of governance: The Communist Party and state structures had relied, to a great extent, on certain regional clan principles of decision-making inherited from their distant past. The new states immediately declared that they would strive to build Western-style political systems. They elected their presidents and parliaments, set up judicial systems, yet the political elites proved unable to realize the democratic standards of the West they supported in words. Over the course of three decades, heads of state, who dominated and still remain the dominant figures in their countries and are responsible for domestic and foreign policies have replaced each other without any real competition. None of the regional states can boast of competitive presidential elections. On the other hand, even though their political development may have external similarities, there are still numerous differences rooted in their very different past, cultures and mentalities. The regional clan division, swept under the carpet during the Soviet period, was revived as an important and highly influential feature. Kazakhstan was divided into zhuzes; Kyrgyzstan is in the midst of an ongoing regional confrontation between the South and the North; in Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan regional clans have gradually gained a lot of political weight. This means that the leaders of all Central Asian countries had no choice but to take into account the interests of groups and clans and the ties between different tribes, which inevitably affected the principles of governance and choice of officials. The personal characteristics of leaders who came to power after the Soviet Union had left the stage and their interpretations of the ongoing processes played a huge role in regional developments, the relationships between the regional states, the regional balance of power and the political situation. Today, all the above-mentioned countries with the exception of Tajikistan, have elected new presidents either amid domestic political turmoil or through a power transit within the same group. This means that in all Central Asian countries presidential elections are not seen as an instrument of change of power but, rather, as an instrument of remaining in power. The complicated economic situation, the non-regional actors that put pressure on the local political elites and, recently, the COVID-19 pandemic, which intensified the social and economic problems, did nothing positive for the political and economic stability in Central Asia.

Challenges and perspectives of brain science in Mongolia and Central Asian countries

"What is the origin of the mind?", "What is the organ of intelligence?" The first answers to these questions trace to the scripts of ancient Sumeria and Egypt. It took almost 4000 years to understand that the brain is the main organ that controls other organs. The dawn of modern neuroscience lay in the 1890s when the pioneering works of Camillo Golgi and Ramon Cajal invented the structure of the nervous system using microscope techniques. Cajal's neuron doctrine, which hypothesizes that the functional unit of the brain is the neuron, has become the main concept that explains the mind and body interactions.

A Spatial Econometric Analysis of Air Pollutant Concentrations and Economic Growth on Public Health: Empirical Evidence from Central Asian Countries

Air pollution of the countries of Central Asia has affected not only the health of the population since 1990 but also influenced the environment. This study has been made empirically analyzes the spatial autocorrelation analysis that is based on the 1991 to 2017 database of Central Asian countries on the socio-economic factors influencing the concentration of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ozone (O3), and Particulate Matter (PM2.5) in the air. Besides, this study validated Global Moran's I statistics to determine spatial positive autocorrelations. The results show that there is a strong correlation between air pollution concentrations and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. The achievement identified that the concentrations of SO2, CO, NO2, O3, and PM2.5 have a spatial aggregation and distribution effect, which is significantly influenced by the spatial characteristics and the Central Asian Regional Economic Unions. It also determined that an energy policy of a country can be affected the emissions of air pollutants from neighboring countries due to policy effects. Therefore, there is a need for regional coordination of environmental policies and the transfer of pollution-intensive industries, to keep air pollution in countries of Central Asia at a normal level. In addition to the empirical results of this study, the following two conclusions can be identified. First, it identified the need for a unified policy to reduce air pollution to reduce emissions from air pollution sources. Second, there is a need for a renewable energy policy for the development and promotion of renewable energy.

Impact of Trade Openness on Food Security: Evidence from Panel Data for Central Asian Countries

The problem of food insecurity has become increasingly critical across the world since 2015, which threatens the lives and livelihoods of people around the world and has historically been a challenge confined primarily to developing countries, to which the countries of Central Asia, as typical transition countries, cannot be immune either. Under this context, many countries including Central Asian countries have recognized the importance of trade openness to ensure adequate levels of food security and are increasingly reliant on international trade for food security. Using the 2001–2018 panel data of Central Asian countries, based on food security’s four pillars (including availability, access, stability, and utilization), this study empirically estimates the impact of trade openness and other factors on food security and traces a U-shaped (or inverted U-shaped) relationship between trade openness and food security by adopting a panel data fixed effect model as the baseline model, and then conducts the robustness test by using the least-squares (LS) procedure for the pooled data and a dynamic panel data (DPD) analysis with the generalized method of moments (GMM) approach, simultaneously. The results show that: (1) a U-shaped relationship between trade openness and the four pillars of food security was found, which means that beyond a certain threshold of trade openness, food security status tends to improve in Central Asian countries; (2) gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, GDP growth, and agricultural productivity have contributed to the improvement of food security. Employment in agriculture, arable land, freshwater withdrawals in agriculture, population growth, natural disasters, and inflation rate have negative impacts on food security; and (3) this study confirms that trade policy reforms can finally be conducive to improving food security in Central Asian countries. However, considering the effects of other factors, potential negative effects of trade openness, and vulnerability of global food trade network, ensuring reasonable levels of food self-sufficiency is still very important for Central Asian countries to achieve food security. Our research findings can provide scientific support for sustainable food system strategies in Central Asian countries.