Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Central Asia'
To see the other types of publications on this topic, follow the link: Central Asia.
Create a spot-on reference in APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard, and other styles
Consult the top 50 dissertations / theses for your research on the topic 'Central Asia.'
Next to every source in the list of references, there is an 'Add to bibliography' button. Press on it, and we will generate automatically the bibliographic reference to the chosen work in the citation style you need: APA, MLA, Harvard, Chicago, Vancouver, etc.
You can also download the full text of the academic publication as pdf and read online its abstract whenever available in the metadata.
Browse dissertations / theses on a wide variety of disciplines and organise your bibliography correctly.
1
Edwards, Jonathan M. "Russia's place in Central Asia." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2001. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA392041.
Full text
2
Costa, Buranelli Filippo. "International society and Central Asia." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2015. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/international-society-and-central-asia(98000750-d3b3-426d-b80f-53f38a31510a).html.
Full textAbstract:
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Central Asia appeared on the world stage as a sub-system in the wider Eurasian continent. Because of its vast and rich natural resources and its strategic location with respect to Afghanistan, within the discipline of International Relations Central Asia has been widely considered as a mere ‘pawn’ in the competition among the Great Powers for geo-political and geo-economic advantage in the area. This framework of analysis, strongly focusing on systemic factors, has often downplayed and silenced the dense intra-regional political dynamics at play. In the few instances where these dynamics have been studied, the international relations of Central Asian states have always been read through a strongly realist framework of analysis. Since these states are more interested in dealing with foreign powers than with themselves, since there are not Central Asian regional organisations and since several problems, mostly related to water- management and border issues, hinder cooperation between them, the region has often been described as a paramount example of realism at play. This thesis, challenging the existent literature on the region, shows that an English School (ES) reading of Central Asian regional politics reveals much more than it is usually believed to be present there, and that despite the strong confrontational character of the region, these states have managed to coexist relatively peacefully. How? Drawing on a variety of primary sources, interviews with diplomats and practitioners conducted in the region and on the analysis of official documents and statements, this research finds that Central Asia represents an in fieri, but nonetheless existent, regional international society, featuring also local, peculiar interpretations of global norms and institutions, where cooperation and confrontation have always been intertwined and seldom mutually exclusive. Being the first work in the literature to use ES theory to study Central Asian international politics, this thesis advances two agendas: it suggests new, more nuanced and ‘autoptic’ readings of the Central Asian region while encouraging the ES to expand into the ‘heartland’, therefore bringing forward the recently established comparative agenda on international society at the regional level.
3
Khan, Omer. "Injection Safety in Central Asia." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2010. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/iph_theses/137.
Full textAbstract:
The capstone reviews the issue of injection safety in Central Asia. Unsafe injections have been a cause of several HIV outbreaks in the region and poses a significant public health challenge. The capstone goes over the process used to engage the local health departments to assess injection practices in the region and the development of an assessment tool to be used to evaluate injection safety practices in the region.
4
Kho, Song-Moo. "Koreans in Soviet central Asia /." Helsinki : Finnish Oriental society, 1987. http://catalogue.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/cb35823281z.
Full text
5
Worthington, James, and James Worthington. "Paleozoic–Cenozoic Tectonics of Central Asia." Diss., The University of Arizona, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625855.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation investigates the evolution of continental orogenic systems in Central Asia during and between pre-collisional plate convergence (Cordilleran-style orogenesis), syn-collisional plate convergence (collisional orogenesis), and post-collisional tectonic processes within the scope of closing Paleo-Asian and Tethyan ocean basins. A brief introductory chapter outlines the scope and context of the research. Appendix A focuses on the Late Paleozoic closure of the Turkestan ocean basin and subsequent collision between the Karakum–Tarim and Kazakh–Kyrgyz terranes in the South Tian Shan, within the scope of the final amalgamation of the Mesoproterozoic–Permian Central Asian Orogenic Belt. Appendix B focuses on late Cenozoic syn-collisional exhumation of gneiss domes in the India–Asia collision, which is a component of the Triassic–recent Alpine–Himalayan orogenic belt. Abstracts of the results are provided in the respective appendices.
6
Eden, Jeffrey Eric. "Slavery and Empire in Central Asia." Thesis, Harvard University, 2016. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33493418.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation is the first major study of a slave trade that captured up to one million slaves along the Russian and Iranian frontiers over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries alone. Slaves served as farm-workers, herdsmen, craftsmen, soldiers, concubines, and even, in rare cases, as high-ranking officials in the region between the Caspian Sea and westernmost China. Most of these slaves were Shīʿites who were captured by Sunni Turkmens and sold in Central Asian cities and towns. Despite the Central Asian slave trade’s impressive dimensions, and the prominent role of slaves in the region’s history, the topic remains largely unstudied by historians of the region and of the broader Islamic world. Drawing on unpublished autobiographical sources and eyewitness accounts, I argue that slaves’ resistance and resourcefulness helped to define the contours of the slave labor system and played a key, unacknowledged role in their emancipation.
While previous studies of slavery in the Muslim world have emphasized the role of colonial governments in fostering abolition, I argue that slaves in Central Asia, by fomenting the largest slave uprising in the region’s history, triggered the abolition of slavery in the region as a whole.Inner Asian and Altaic Studies
7
Solberg, Johan. "The papermaking tradition of Central Asia." Thesis, University of Iowa, 2018. https://ir.uiowa.edu/etd/6291.
Full textAbstract:
This paper examines the establishment of papermaking in Central Asia in the 7th to 8th century CE. Additionally, it examines the historical and contemporary status of papermaking in Uzbekistan based on primary sources gathered during a research trip, and historical sources. Both textual research and experimental papermaking research were conducted for this paper.
Designed as a foundation for further study, this paper includes early textual sources mentioning papermaking, information gathered from interviews, personal observations, and maps highlighting areas of importance.
The first part surveys the development of the discussion surrounding the establishment of the craft in the region. By combining early and contemporary research and highlighting and discussing new sources, possible scenarios of the establishment of papermaking in Central Asia are further investigated.
Pursuing this line of inquiry, the paper provides a full overview of the history and development of the different papermaking regions of Uzbekistan, following a detailed description of the tradition in the city of Kokand based on first-hand accounts from the early 20th century.
The second part of this paper includes a description of the author’s process of recreating historical tools, techniques and paper based on data and information gathered during the research trip as well as information drawn from historical sources. In addition, the author explores different theories such as the debate about which raw materials were used, and hypotheses regarding the development of the paper mould.
8
MENGA, FILIPPO. "Power and Dams in Central Asia." Doctoral thesis, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11584/266494.
Full textAbstract:
The purpose of this research is to analyse and understand the role of state power in transboundary water relations, providing an in–depth analysis of the evolution of interstate relations in Central Asia in the field of water in the period 1991-2011. Taking as a case study the planned construction of the Rogun and Kambarata dams in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, the research looks at the various forms of overt and covert power shaping interstate relations and at the way hegemonic and counter-hegemonic measures are put in place in an international river basin. The overarching hypothesis driving this study is that the intimate correlation between the concepts of power and hegemony can offer key insights to the analysis and understanding of transboundary water relations. While, on the one hand, the analytical focus is placed on state power, on the other hand, hegemonic and counter-hegemonic tactics represent the ways in which power is wielded and observed.
This research makes an original contribution to the literature on hydropolitics in Central Asia, offering fresh theoretical interpretations to the subjects of power and counter-hegemony in the Aral Sea basin and presenting the original “circle of hydro-hegemony”, an analytical framework in which the various forms of power are “connective” in the function of hegemony. A further value is added by three timelines expressly created for the research and that represent, at the time of writing, the most detailed reference-supported collection of events of this kind for the Central Asian region in the period 1991-2011.
9
Dockery, Leon W. "United States military presence in Central Asia implications of United States basing for Central Asian stability." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2006. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion/06Jun%5FDockery.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2006.Thesis Advisor(s): Thomas H. Johnson. "June 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-84). Also available in print.
10
Crandell, Casey Zepp. "Climate and Conflict in Central Asia: The Effect of Climate Change on the Politics of Central Asia." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10150/297531.
Full textAbstract:
Climate change is a growing concern, which will increasingly affect many aspects of society. These effects will be felt strongest in regions that are already unstable, or underdeveloped. The nations of Central Asia are both rife with underlying tensions, as well as underdeveloped economically and politically. The cases of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan are looked at in depth to deduce the effects of climate change on the natural resources of those countries, and therefore the probable results on the politics of those nations in the face of the climate change induced effects. The effect of climate change on the environment, and the ripple effect felt politically and economically, is also examined at the regional and international level. At the international level, special attention is paid to the influence of China, Russia, and the West. After examining the background, and the predicted consequences of climate change on that background, the likelihood of instability and conflict in the region is very high. Instances of particular concern are examined, as are factors that might mitigate some of the worst instability and conflict. Lessons learned from Central Asia’s experience with climate change are easily transferable to the many underdeveloped regions of the world that will soon feel the effects of climate change.
11
Radin, Adam J. "The security implications of water prospects for instability or cooperation in South and Central Asia /." Thesis, Monterey, California : Naval Postgraduate School, 2010. http://edocs.nps.edu/npspubs/scholarly/theses/2010/Mar/10Mar%5FRadin.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Middle East, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa))--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2010.Thesis Advisor(s): Clunan, Anne L. ; Chatterjee, Anshu N. "March 2010." Description based on title screen as viewed on April 21, 2010. Author(s) subject terms: Security, South Asia, Central Asia, Environmental Conflict, Indus Water Treaty. Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-62). Also available in print.
12
Mott, Christopher Douglas. "The formless empire : the evolution of indigenous Eurasian geopolitics." Thesis, University of St Andrews, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5149.
Full textAbstract:
This dissertation seeks to make a unique contribution to the study of geopolitics and empire in Central Asia by focusing on both the indigenous developments of grand strategies and their legacies by examining several key points in the history of the region's geopolitics in order to determine the peculiar and specific nature of regional geopolitical evolution, and how its basic concepts can be understood using such a locally based framework. By putting the focus on several key concepts which hold steady through major societal and technological upheavals, as well as foreign incursion and both the inward and outward migrations, which together create the conditions which I have dubbed ‘The Formless Empire', it is possible to see the elements of a regional and homegrown tradition of grand strategy and geopolitical thinking which is endemic to the area of Inner Eurasia, even as this concept adapts from a totality of political policy to merely frontier and military policy over the course of time. This indigenous concept of grand strategy encompasses political, military, and diplomatic aspects utilizing the key concepts of strategic mobility, and flexible or indirect governance. These political power systems originated in their largest incarnations amongst the nomadic people of the steppe and other people commonly considered peripheral in history, but who in a Central Asian context were the original centerpieces of regional politics until technological changes led to their eclipse by the big sedentary powers such as Russia and China. However, even these well-established states took elements of ‘The Formless Empire' into their policies (if largely relegated to frontiers, the military, and a few informal relationships alone) and therefore the influence of the region's past still lingers on in different forms in the present.
13
Lally, Jagjeet. "Indo-Central Asian trade, c.1600-1900." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2014. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.648595.
Full text
14
Hartman, William B. "Central Asia's raging waters the prospects of water conflict in Central Asia." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Naval Postgraduate School, 2007. http://bosun.nps.edu/uhtbin/hyperion.exe/07Mar%5FHartman.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2007.Thesis Advisor(s): Thomas Johnson. "March 2007." Includes bibliographical references (p. 59-62). Also available in print.
15
Samanchina, Jarkyn B. "U.s. Foreign Policy Toward Central Asia: 1991-2003." Master's thesis, METU, 2004. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12605108/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis analyzes the U.S. foreign policy in Central Asia from 1991 until 2003. The U.S. has been involved in the process of democratization and economic reforms in the Central Asian countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, prior to September 11, 2001 events, the U.S. policies toward the five newly independent states, had not been as assertive as in the aftermath of the tragic events. The thesis will argue that the U.S. foreign policy toward Central Asia has steadily developed over time due to geopolitical and geo-economic factors. The U.S. policy culminated in the new strategic cooperation between the U.S. and the Central Asian states on the issue of terrorism. The thesis will demonstrate how the U.S. moved away from being almost a benign observer in the mid-1990s, to an assertive state interested in exercising its influence in the region after 2000.
16
Erdal, Sule. "The Emancipation Of Women In Stalinist Central Asia." Master's thesis, METU, 2011. http://etd.lib.metu.edu.tr/upload/12613097/index.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis mainly deals with the issue that if the policies of women's emancipation implemented in Stalinist Central Asia were constructed on the basis of Marxist ideology. For this purpose, after how the issue of women
17
Campbell, Grace. "Active tectonics of the Tien Shan, Central Asia." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2015. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.709174.
Full text
18
Gaziyev, Jamshid. "Ethno-nationalism and ethnic conflicts in Central Asia." Thesis, Durham University, 2008. http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/71/.
Full textAbstract:
THE last years of the Soviet Union were the most challenging for the nations of Central Asia. These nations witnessed the dramatic collapse of the Soviet federal system and beheld with disbelief the tragic unfolding of inter-ethnic violence in the land of ‘eternal friendship of brotherly nations’. Their disbelief, though understandable, presents the two puzzles that this dissertation addresses: (1) “how can one explain the outbreak of unprecedented inter-ethnic clashes in the lands where gracious internationalism should have replaced chauvinist nationalism?” and (2) “what lessons can be learnt from Central Asia’s nation-formational processes and its recent experiences of ethnic violence lest mistakes be repeated in its present and future socio-political development?” These puzzles, and solutions to them, are not only significant and intriguing in the regional context of Central Asia. They correspond to a set of larger, meta-theoretical questions in Social Sciences: (1) how do ethnicity and nationhood originate and change? (2) why do certain ethno-national movements become politically salient and others do not? and (3) how do ethnic conflicts arise and develop? This dissertation uniquely employs the institutionalist approach to explain the above puzzles and theoretical questions in the context of Central Asia. By exploring the nature and dynamics of nation-formation in Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, this work concludes that territorial nationhood and ethnic nationality have become pervasively institutionalized social and political forms in Central Asia as a result of the Soviet nationalities policy. The analysis of inter-ethnic strife in Central Asia during the last years of the Soviet empire, with a special focus on the Osh conflict, confirms that ethnic conflicts and inter-ethnic relations in the region were, and will remain, crucially framed, constituted and reconciled by rigidly institutionalized definitions of ethnicity and nationality. Following these findings, the study recommends considering institutional reforms within the framework of the rule of law and constitutionalism for deliberations of mechanisms and measures aimed at building more peaceful and secure inter-ethnic relations in Central Asia. The dissertation therefore urges policy-makers and other stakeholders in the region to take fuller advantage of the benefits of such institutional reforms at the state-structural level with the view to controlling and counter-balancing the effects of institutionalized ethno-nationalism in Central Asia, and perhaps beyond.
19
Sadykov, S. "Problems of transboundary water resources in Central Asia." Thesis, Sumy State University, 2015. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/40836.
Full textAbstract:
Central Asia is located in the center of the Eurasian continent - at the
crossroads of Europe and Asia and covers an area of about 4 million. km2.
The region covers an area of five countries: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
20
Zhandos, A. "Informational society and central Asia: difficulties and perspectives." Thesis, Вид-во СумДУ, 2005. http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/13316.
Full text
21
McGowen, Richard S. "Central Asian drug trafficking dilemma." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2003. http://library.nps.navy.mil/uhtbin/hyperion-image/03Dec%5FMcGowen.pdf.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs)--Naval Postgraduate School, December 2003.Thesis advisor(s): Mikhail Tsypkin, Robert E. Looney. Includes bibliographical references (p. 75-79). Also available online.
22
Majoka, Hashir. "Islam and the Turkic Tajik symbiosis in Central Asia." Thesis, McGill University, 2009. http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=111583.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis explores two factors that have been instrumental in the evolution of society and ethnic and national identities in southern Central Asia. It is argued that the development of these identities (and the obstacles encountered in the process) are closely linked to the place of Islam in central Asian society, and the delicate ethnic balance between the Turkic and the Iranian cultural spheres -- which also manifested itself as the symbiosis between sedentary-agrarian and nomadic populations. It was the disruption of these two factors under Soviet rule which led to lasting problems that continue to bedevil the region to this day.
23
Spaiser, Olga A. "Exercising influence in a challenging geopolitical environment : the EU’s 'Far Neighborhood’ policy in Central Asia." Thesis, Paris, Institut d'études politiques, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015IEPP0021.
Full textAbstract:
En s’appuyant sur le cas d’Asie centrale, cette thèse a pour ambition de comprendre les principes, les mécanismes et le fondement du processus de la politique étrangère européenne actuelle par lesquels l’Union européenne s’efforce de construire une politique de « grand voisinage ». L’objectif central est de savoir si l’Union est en mesure de construire des relations stables et cohérentes avec un espace stratégique et dans un environnement géopolitique complexe, audelà de sa politique européenne de voisinage. Il s’agit donc d’un cas d’étude sur le savoirfaire de l’Europe dans le monde. Notre étude a montré que l'UE essaie d'exercer son influence en prenant un rôle de « consultant ». Elle se présente comme un acteur inoffensif qui agit en dehors de tout enjeu géopolitique et qui offre son expertise. Ainsi, elle prend consciemment la position d'un acteur de second rang. Cependant, nous avons argumenté que sa vision de la région ainsi que son approche sont tout à fait de nature géopolitique, ce que l’UE dénie pourtant. Quant à son influence réelle, elle est limitée notamment en ce qui concerne sa politique normative (promotion de droits de l’homme, et d’état de droit). Bien que l'UE ne soit pas en mesure de rivaliser avec les autres acteurs dans la région (Russie, Chine), elle a pourtant des avantages comparatifs: elle est perçue comme inoffensive et occupe les domaines de sécurité qui sont négligés par les autres acteurs (la gouvernance, les conflits liés à l’eau et la gestion des frontières), jouant ainsi, certes d’acteur indispensableCentral Asia is a region beyond the EU’s direct neighborhood and thus an area that allows the EU to demonstrate its desire to enter the global political stage where it needs to cope with other great powers and to pursue its own strategic interests. However, the Central Asian republics have shown little interest for European transition assistance and political norms, unlike other postcommunist countries in Europe’s orbit. Hence, the central question of our study was thus: How does the EU exert influence in such a challenging geopolitical context? Our empirical results suggest that the EU tries to exert influence in such environment by consciously taking the position of a secondtier actor who acts as a “consultant”, rather than a power, and whose influence is confined to niche domains in the security sphere. The EU is eager to project a picture of itself as an honest broker with no geopolitical agenda in order to enhance its legitimacy; however, its vision of Central Asia being its ‘far neighborhood’ and the related approach unveils the geopolitical nature of its policies through which the EU tries to shape its close and wider environment. However, the EU struggles to put into effect its normative agenda beyond the EU’s direct neighborhood where other normative actors’ influence (Russia, China) exceeds that of the EU. The EU is not a great power in the region that is capable of competing with other external actors. Nor it is willing to become one. It does, however, have comparative advantages in being perceived as inoffensive and for occupying areas that are neglected by the other actors, thus playing the role of a niche actor, albeit an indispensable one
24
Walker, Justine. "Drugs trafficking and terrorism in Central Asia : an anatomy of relationships." Thesis, St Andrews, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10023/896.
Full text
25
Torjesen, Stina. "Understanding regional co-operation in Central Asia 1991-2004." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2007. http://english.nupi.no/publikasjoner/boeker_rapporter/2008/understanding_regional_co_operation_in_central_asia_1991_2004.
Full text
26
Schiemann, Reinhard. "Forcing and variability of the hydroclimate in Central Asia /." Zürich : ETH, 2007. http://e-collection.ethbib.ethz.ch/show?type=diss&nr=17426.
Full text
27
Santiago, Gerald. "The development of Central Asia through the Middle East." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 2001. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA401592.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs) Naval Postgraduate School, Dec. 2001.Thesis advisor(s): Ghoreishi, Ahmad. "December 2001." Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-57). Also available in print.
28
Jiang, Xiaodian. "Lithospheric deformations in Central Asia, derived from gravity data." [S.l. : s.n.], 2004. http://deposit.ddb.de/cgi-bin/dokserv?idn=973285567.
Full text
29
Aliev, Umid Farhodovich. "Wage and employment determination in Russia and central Asia." Thesis, University of Leeds, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.550335.
Full textAbstract:
The political and economic fall of the socialist bloc in the late 1980s and the disintegration of the USSR in 1991 triggered the process of political and economic transformation from planned to market-based economies in over 20 countries in Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia. One of the important aspects of the political and economic reforms was that they led to substantial changes in wage and employment determination in enterprises. In particular, prominent features of the Soviet economic system - administratively determined wages and full employment - were abolished with the end of the USSR. New, independent states had to create new systems, where market forces were to be given a bigger role than before. These changes profoundly altered employment relations and completely changed the processes of wage determination. However, it is not completely clear what we have at the end. In this thesis we try to establish if the labour markets in Russia and Central Asia are likely to have features of a competitive labour market or those of a monopsonistic labour market. Detailed analysis of the stylized facts and characteristic features indicates that the monopsonistic market structure is more relevant than the competitive market structure. We have undertaken an empirical test of this proposition. The estimation results indicate the presence of some evidence indicating that the labour markets in Russia and Central Asia are likely to be monopsonisitc. This conclusion has important policy implications because in a monopsonisitc market structure market interventions like unemployment benefits or minimum wages may improve efficiency. In contrast, in a competitive labour market these market interventions are not welcome due to the prediction that they reduce efficiency. We also examine if the firms with different ownership structures differ in their wage and employment decisions. Our estimation results report substantial differences in wage and employment determination across firms with different ownership structures.
30
Feuerbach, Anna Marie. "Crucible steel in Central Asia : production, use and origins." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2002. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1317704/.
Full textAbstract:
Central Asian crucible steel has been neglected in the scholarly literature in favour of Indian/Sri Lankan crucible steel (commonly called wootz). This is primarily because during the last few centuries Europeans frequently traded by sea, rather than via the overland route through Central Asia, with India and Sri Lanka where crucible steel was still being produced. The consequence of this was the assumption that the majority of crucible steel in Central Asia and the Middle East was imported from India and Sri Lanka. Moreover, the Central Asian crucible steel process is thought by many to be merely a variation of the Indian/Sri Lankan process. On the contrary, recently excavated archaeological evidence indicates that crucible steel was produced for centuries by a distinct process in various locations in Central Asia. This dissertation presents the first detailed investigation of crucible steel in Central Asia. The characteristics of Central Asian crucible steel production were primarily determined by laboratory analyses of archaeometallurgical remains excavated from an early Islamic (9th-10th century AD) crucible steel workshop from Merv, Turkmenistan. A selection of crucible steel production remains from Medieval Uzbekistan was also examined. Furthermore, fifty-seven blades from three locations in Central Asia: Kislovodsk Basin, Upper Kuban River Region, and around the Aral Sea, were examined using metallographic analyses. The analyses identified four crucible steel blades, one of which may be the earliest known example of Damascus steel. The laboratory analyses supports early textual accounts of the use of crucible steel in Persia/Central Asia in addition to India, and the presence of blades with a Damascus pattern. The results were compared to ethnographic reports, historical accounts, archaeological evidence, and replication experiments related to the production of crucible steel and Damascus steel blades. The results of the investigation clearly demonstrate the use of crucible steel in Central Asia for at least the past 1,500 years, and that it was being produced there for at least as long as it was produced in India and Sri Lanka.
31
Glenn, John. "Identities in transition : the Soviet legacy in Central Asia." Thesis, University of Southampton, 1996. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.243144.
Full text
32
Mazhikeyev, Arman. "Central Asia : colonial ties, economic performance & trade costs." Thesis, Loughborough University, 2015. https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/2134/19042.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis comprises a three papers. The chapters stand on their own. Each paper-chapter analyses a specific issue and contains introduction, theoretical framework, methods of analyses, results and findings. Each of the chapters offers new empirical, methodological and modelling contributions with new empirical evidence and findings, with new extensions and specifications for the gravity based and CGE based analytical tools. The thesis reflects my analysis of regional and international trade of Central Asia by analyzing the past economic ties of the CA with former Big Brother , Russia; the present heterogeneity of socio-economic environment of CA countries; and the future development of CA trade relations with the formation of the Eurasian (Re)Union. The Introductory Chapter binds together the other chapters by discussing the general background of the Central Asian institutional formation, transition and trade relations; the research motivations and methodology employed in this thesis. Afterwards come three substantive chapters. In the first chapter, the analysis of enhancing economic relations between Russia and CA in the post-Soviet period contradicts the post-colonial trade erosion theory. In the second chapter, how the open or isolationist policies followed by Central Asian countries affect the performance of local firms and MNEs, and linked to the economic performances of the countries, is investigated. In the third chapter, the impact of deeper Eurasian regional economic integration is assessed quantitatively in the context of asymmetry between the union members and the EU deeper integration project. The final chapter discusses the limitations and possible directions for future research.
33
Thomason, Baxter Jetton. "Determinants of bilateral aid to former Soviet Central Asia." Connect to Electronic Thesis (CONTENTdm), 2009. http://worldcat.org/oclc/449711571/viewonline.
Full text
34
Sgibnev, Wladimir. "Remont: the Social Production of Space in Central Asia." Doctoral thesis, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.18452/19448.
Full textAbstract:
Die Dissertation baut auf Henri Lefebvres Theorie einer sozialen Produktion des Raums auf und bietet eine ethnographisch fundierte Untersuchung der Komplexität urbaner Phänomene in der nordtadschikischen Stadt Khujand. Die drei Bestandteile einer sozialen Produktion des Raums – Konzeptualisierung, Wahrnehmung und Anpassung – stehen nicht isoliert voneinander, denn die Produktion von Raum erfolgt im Prozess ihres Zusammenwirkens. Die vorliegende Arbeit ist, vor diesem Hintergrund, die erste Monographie, welche die komplexen Zusammenhänge der Raumproduktion in einer peripheren zentralasiatischen Stadt zum zentralen Forschungsgegenstand nimmt.
Nach einer Einführung in Theorie und Methoden wende ich mich der Produktion des mentalen Raums in Khujand zu. Ich erläutere unterschiedliche Ideologien von Raum und Urbanität, welche für Khujand relevant waren – etwa die „Islamisch-orientalische“, „sowjetische“ sowie „westliche“ – und untersuche ihre Bedeutung für aktuelle Raumproduktionsprozesse. Im zweiten Teil wende ich mich dem physischen Raum zu und arbeite zentrale Elemente der urbanen Topographie von Khujand heraus. Nach einer Analyse städtischer Mobilität präsentiere ich vier Fallstudien, welche einen Querschnitt von Khujands physischem Raum darstellen und eine breite Vielfalt urbaner Erfahrungen abdecken.
Im dritten Teil zeige ich, wie die soziale Produktion des Raums durch einen Fokus auf Anpassungen des Raums erfasst werden kann. Ich analysiere Beispiele auf der Staats-, Nachbarschafts- und Haushalts-Ebene im Hinblick auf Lefebvres Konzept der Transduktion, also einer Praxis vor dem Hintergrund von Einschränkungen und Wünschen. In diesem Teil stelle ich die zentrale Rolle von remont und obodi heraus – zwei kulturell eingebetteten kreativen Konzepten, welche maßgeblich an der Produktion des sozialen Raums in Khujand mitwirken.The dissertation builds upon Henri Lefebvre's theory of a social production of space in order to provide an anthropologically founded account, grasping the complexity of the urban phenomenon in the northern Tajik city of Khujand. The three parts of a social production of space – conceptions, perceptions, and adaptations of space – are not isolated from each other. In the process of their interaction, space is being produced. In this regard, the present work is the first monograph which explores the intertwined contemporary urban space in a regional city of Central Asia. After delving into theory and methodology, I address in a first part the production of mental space in Khujand. I present different ideologies of space and urbanity which were at work in Khujand: inter alia, the 'Islamic-Oriental', and the 'Soviet' and 'Western' ideologies of urbanity, and assess their relevance to Khujand today. In the second part, I work out the defining elements of Khujand's physical space. After an examination of urban mobility, I proceed to presenting four case studies which provide a cross-section of Khujand's physical space, covering a wide range of urban experiences. In the third part I show how the production of social space can be seen through the lens of adaptations. I analyse cases on the state, the neighbourhood and the household levels, with regard to Lefebvre's concept of transduction, that is, action taken within a framework of constraints and desire. In this part, I emphasise two crucial notions which permeate the social production of space in Khujand: remont and obodi, which stand out as culturally embedded creative concepts.
35
Karrar, Hasan Haider. "The new silk road diplomacy a regional analysis of China's Central Asian foreign policy, 1991-2005 /." online access from Digital Dissertation Consortium access full-text, 2006. http://libweb.cityu.edu.hk/cgi-bin/er/db/ddcdiss.pl?NR27796.
Full text
36
Morin, Julien. "The Jurassic evolution of the Tian Shan region (Central Asia) : geodynamic context and paleogeographic consequences." Thesis, Rennes 1, 2019. http://www.theses.fr/2019REN1B030.
Full textAbstract:
La région intracontinentale du Tian Shan (Asie Centrale) est une zone clé pour comprendre l’évolution long terme des continents en général et de l’Asie en particulier. Si son évolution géodynamique paléozoïque et cénozoïque est assez bien comprise et caractérisée par une succession d’orogénèses, son histoire Mésozoïque reste quant à elle assez mal contrainte. Le Jurassique est une période particulière au sein de ce contexte globalement compressif. En effet, à la fin du Trias l’Eurasie était largement entourée par des zones de subductions conduisant à de l’extension au Jurassique inférieur – moyen au sein du domaine Caspien/Turan à l’ouest et à de l’extension Jurassique – Crétacé au sein des domaines Sibérie – Mongol à l’est. Néanmoins, l’évolution paléogéographique et cinématique Jurassique de la région du Tian Shan, correspondant probablement à une zone de relais entre ces deux domaines dominés par de l’extension, sont encore mal comprises. Pour ce faire, nous avons mené des analyses sédimentaires sur différents bassins associés à la chaîne du Tian Shan et compilé les différentes données disponibles afin de caractériser l’évolution des environnements de dépôts et des conditions climatiques au cours du temps. En parallèle, nous avons effectué des études géomorphologiques et compilé les données de thermochronologie basse température pour reconstruire l’évolution paléotopographique de la région du Tian Shan. Durant le Jurassique inférieur - début du Jurassique moyen, l’évolution topographique du Tian Shan était dominée par l’aplanissement progressif d’un relief Paléozoïque supérieur à Mésozoïque inférieur, localement réactivé par des évènements tectoniques éphémères. La sédimentation, dans les bassins bordants la chaîne et dans les bassins intra- montagneux était caractérisée par des dépôts alluviaux à lacustres déposés dans des conditions humides. Durant cette période, la région du Tian Shan était dominée par de la tectonique compressive à décrochante. A l’ouest, le Sinémurien – Pliensbachien marque le début de la sédimentation dans le bassin de Yarkand-Fergana. A cette période, une activité tectonique le long de la faille de Talas Fergana/Karatau conduisit à l’ouverture du bassin de Yarkand-Fergana sous forme d’hémi-graben. L’extension, et donc l’ouverture du bassin, a persisté durant le Jurassique moyen. Ces épisodes de déformations et leurs chronologies ne peuvent pas être liés à la collision du bloc de Qiangtang, mais peuvent être associés à l’extension induite par la subduction de la Néo-Téthys affectant les domaines Caspien/Turan à l’ouest. Nous proposons que le champ de contrainte extensif induit par la zone de subduction de la Néo-Tethys ait également joué un rôle majeur en contrôlant l’évolution topographique et cinématique tardi Jurassique inférieur – moyen de la région du Tian Shan. Pendant la période tardi Jurassique moyen – Jurassique supérieur, peu d’indices de déformations existent dans le Tian Shan mais également dans les domaines Caspien –Turan. Nous proposons que la période de la fin du Jurassique moyen – début du Jurassique supérieur corresponde à une période de relative quiescence tectonique. Enfin, la transition Jurassique – Crétacé est marquée par une réactivation tectonique conduisant à l’inversion du bassin de Yarkand-Fergana et à la création de relief localisé dans la chaine du Tian ShanThe strongly intracontinental Tian Shan region, in Central Asia represents a key area to understand the long term evolution of continents in general and Asia in particular. If its Paleozoic and Cenozoic geodynamics are well understood and characterized by a succession of orogenesis driven by accretion of continental blocks, its Mesozoic evolution remains poorly constrained. Within this largely compressive geodynamic setting, the Jurassic period corresponds to a peculiar time span dominated by widespread extension within the Caspian – Turan domain to the west and within the Siberian/Mongolian domain to the east. However, the Jurassic paleogeographic and kinematic evolution of the probable relay zone corresponding to the Tian Shan region is yet to be fully understood. To do so, we conducted sedimentological analyses within several basins associated to the Tian Shan Range and compiled previously published sedimentological data in order to characterize the evolution of the depositional environments through time as well as to document climate conditions. In parallel, we conducted geomorphological analyses and compiled both detrital geochronology and low - temperature thermochronology data to describe the paleotopographical evolution of the Tian Shan area, especially constraining the location and the timing of relief building in the range. During the Early to early Middle Jurassic, the topographic evolution of the Tian Shan Range was dominated by progressive planation of late Paleozoic to early Mesozoic relief, locally interrupted by short-lived tectonic uplift. Throughout the region, contemporaneous sedimentation was characterized by alluvial to lacustrine strata deposited under humid conditions. During this period, recurrent limited deformation events associated with strike slip and compressive tectonics occurred. To the west of the Tian Shan, the Early Jurassic Sinemurian (?) – Pliensbachian marks the onset of sedimentation, at least in the northern Yarkand-Fergana Basin. At that time, renewed activity along the Talas- Fergana/Karatau fault led to the opening of the Yarkand-Fergana Basin as a half-graben. Continuous opening of this basin occurred during the late Early – Middle Jurassic. These episodes of deformation and their timing cannot be related to the far-field effects of the Qiangtang collision but could instead, be associated to the coeval subduction-related extension affecting the Caspian – Turan domains to the west of the Tian Shan area. We propose that this extensional stress-field, induced by the Neo-Tethys subduction, played a major role in driving the late Early to early Middle Jurassic tectonic and topographic evolution of the Tian Shan region. During the late Middle to early Late Jurassic, few evidences of deformation exist in the Tian Shan or within the Caspian – Turan domains. We propose that the late Middle – early Late Jurassic corresponded to a period of relative tectonic quiescence in the area. Finally, the Late Jurassic – Early Cretaceous transition was marked by a tectonic reactivation leading to the inversion of the Yarkand – Fergana Basin and to localized relief building in the Tian Shan
37
Sobti, Manu P. "Urban Metamorphosis and Change in Central Asian Cities after the Arab Invasions." Diss., Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/1853/7176.
Full textAbstract:
This work is a study in urban history, in particular, one that examines a crucial period in the rise and development of large cities and metropolises in the region of Sogdiana within Central Asia, between the seventh and tenth centuries. The primary focus of inquiry is to show the effects of inter-relationships between social change, intense urbanization and religious conversions that occurred within Sogdiana at this time. All of these processes were initiated as a result of the Arab invasions between 625 and 750 A.D. Sogdia or Sogdiana, along with the regions of Bactria and Khwarazm, were incorporated into the Islamic world through the process of conquest that followed these invasions, but once resistance was extinguished and Islam widely accepted among the populace, these regions became among the most vital centers of urban life in the Islamic world. Sogdiana, among these three regions, witnessed the rise, change and unprecedented development of many large metropolises that were distinct in several ways from the cities in other parts of the Islamic world. Traditional cities in the Islamic world further west and south of Central Asia had a dense structure within an encircling wall, and eventually the residential areas were found to extend beyond the wall, only themselves to be eventually protected by another wall. However, in Central Asia yet another further stage of development took place. Here the main administrative functions and markets moved out into this outer residential area and abandoned the central core. This outer area of the city (the rabad) became the locus of political and commercial activity. In due course the process repeated itself - the residential areas overflowing beyond the walls of the rabad, only themselves to be surrounded by a third outer wall. In this way the Central Asian city developed into a distinct type, markedly different from cities further west and south.
38
Bossuyt, Fabienne. "The EU's 'transnational power over' Central Asia : Developing and applying a structurally integrative approach to the study of the EU's power over Central Asia." Thesis, Aston University, 2012. http://publications.aston.ac.uk/16302/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis challenges the consensual scholarly expectation of low EU impact in Central Asia. In particular, it claims that by focusing predominantly on narrow, micro-level factors, the prevailing theoretical perspectives risk overlooking less obvious aspects of the EU?s power, including structural aspects, and thus tend to underestimate the EU?s leverage in the region. Therefore, the thesis argues that a more structurally integrative and holistic approach is needed to understand the EU?s power in the region. In responding to this need, the thesis introduces a conceptual tool, which it terms „transnational power over? (TNPO). Inspired by debates in IPE, in particular new realist and critical IPE perspectives, and combining these views with insights from neorealist, neo-institutionalist and constructivist approaches to EU external relations, the concept of TNPO is an analytically eclectic notion, which helps to assess the degree to which, in today?s globalised and interdependent world, the EU?s power over third countries derives from its control over a combination of material, institutional and ideational structures, making it difficult for the EU?s partners to resist the EU?s initiatives or to reject its offers. In order to trace and assess the mechanisms of EU impact across these three structures, the thesis constructs a toolbox, which centres on four analytical distinctions: (i) EU-driven versus domestically driven mechanisms, (ii) mechanisms based on rationalist logics of action versus mechanisms following constructivist logics of action, (iii) agent-based versus purely structural mechanisms of TNPO, and (iv) transnational and intergovernmental mechanisms of EU impact. Using qualitative research methodology, the thesis then applies the conceptual model to the case of EU-Central Asia. It finds that the EU?s power over Central Asia effectively derives from its control over a combination of material, institutional and ideational structures, including its position as a leader in trade and investment in the region, its (geo)strategic and security-related capabilities vis-à-vis Central Asia, as well as the relatively dense level of institutionalisation of its relations with the five countries and the positive image of the EU in Central Asia as a more neutral actor.
39
Karakurt, Atalay. "Economic progress of Uzbekistan and political stability of Central Asia." Thesis, Monterey, Calif. : Springfield, Va. : Naval Postgraduate School ; Available from National Technical Information Service, 1997. http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/ADA341093.
Full textAbstract:
Thesis (M.A. in National Security Affairs) Naval Postgraduate School, December 1997."December 1997." Thesis advisor(s): Robert Edward Looney. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-85). Also available online.
40
Shashenkov, Maxim V. "Stability and instability in Central Asia : security dimensions, 1991-1993." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.270475.
Full text
41
Haddad, Hala. "Russian, Islamic and American influences in Central Asia since 1991." Thesis, University College London (University of London), 2008. http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1443961/.
Full textAbstract:
This thesis looks at competing influences in Central Asia since 1991. It looks at all five Central Asian countries, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, and identifies the three main powers with competing influences as Russia, Islam and America. It aims at showing which of these three powers is the most enduring and powerful in the region according to how strong its influences are. The strengths of these influences are investigated in relation to the fields of security, politics, culture and economics. This thesis argues that Russian influences are at present the strongest amongst most strata of the Central Asian population. Russification (which falls under cultural influence) in both its linguistic and behavioural forms is a profound contributor to Russia's firm role in the region. Russia's security, economic and particularly political influences have gradually grown in strength, giving the other two powers a larger challenge. According to this work, Islam is a growing power in the region and has gained momentum primarily as a result of internal factors in the region, although regional and global Islamic forces are also looked at. Islam's cultural and political influences are particularly effective in the development of Islam as a power in the region. Central Asia's geo-strategic importance was soon realised by Washington after independence. This thesis argues that competition and not cooperation characterised the relationship between Russia and America throughout the 1990's and in particular after September 11, which led to America's increased involvement in the region. The USA's economic and security-related influences have been the strongest and most successful. Its political influences have often been seen as counter-productive by pushing different segments of the population towards the other two powers. America's cultural influences come last. This thesis has consequently provided a platform for measuring competing influences from Russia, Islam and America in Central Asia.
42
Gribenski, Natacha. "Comparison of dating methods for paleoglacial reconstruction in Central Asia." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-132915.
Full textAbstract:
Reconstruction of former Central Asian glaciers extents can provide valuable information about past atmospheric circulation variations. These extents, often marked by terminal moraines, need to be chronologically constrained. Cosmogenic nuclide exposure (CNE) dating is widely used to directly date moraines. In addition, there is increasing interest on using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques for dating glacial landforms. This thesis focuses on the methodological aspects of directly dating glacial landforms to perform paleoglacial reconstructions in Central Asia, with an emphasis on OSL dating. For OSL dating of sediments from glacial settings, it is important to measure the luminescence signal at the single grain scale, because the sediments are likely affected by partial bleaching due to short light exposure during glacial or glaciofluvial transport. The use of an Electron Multiplying Charges Coupled Device (EMCCD)-based imaging system for single grain OSL measurements would offer larger flexibility in light stimulation and sediment type, compared to the current Single Grain Risø reader. An automated image processing procedure has been developed to compensate for sample carrier displacement over repeated measurements and for attributing pixels to each grain for signal integration when using this imaging system. However, significant cross talk contamination, demonstrated by laboratory and simulation experiments, prohibits accurate single grain luminescence measurements. Preliminary experiments using a basic image processing algorithm show good potential for software correction solutions. Paleoglacial reconstructions conducted in the Altai Mountains, Central Asia, using both CNE and OSL dating demonstrate that luminescence measurements of glaciofluvial sediments performed at the multi-grain scale result in large age overestimates, and that single grain measurements allow for more accurate dating of glacial landforms. However, uncertainties remain that are related to the model used for extracting equivalent doses for well-bleached grains and to fading corrections when using feldspar minerals. The timing of glaciation can be inferred from scattered CNE moraine boulder ages if most of the ages are concentrated within a few thousand years, with only few ages clearly older or younger. Overall, combining CNE and OSL techniques for dating a glacial landform is a powerful approach for producing robust glacial chronologies, despite uncertainties inherent to each technique. Paleoglacial reconstructions from the Altai Mountains indicate Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 and MIS 4/late MIS 5 local Last Glacial Maximums. In Central Asia, in addition to a regional MIS 2 glaciation, previous studies indicate a period of major glacial advances during MIS 3 that is out of phase with global ice volume records. However, most MIS 3 glacial chronologies from Central Asia are based on too few or too heavily scattered CNE data sets, or on OSL or Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) ages for which partial bleaching has not been properly investigated. Hence, at this stage, chronological evidence is insufficient to demonstrate a regional MIS 3 glaciation in Central Asia. Surge-related glacial features identified in the Russian Altai also highlight the importance of conducting detailed geomorphology and sedimentology studies to understand former ice dynamics, which is essential for inferring appropriate paleoclimate information from paleoglacial reconstructions.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following paper was unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 4: Manuscript.
43
Blomdin, Robin. "Paleoglaciology of the Tian Shan and Altai Mountains, Central Asia." Doctoral thesis, Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för naturgeografi, 2016. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-134748.
Full textAbstract:
The mountain-systems of Central Asia, act as barriers to atmospheric circulation patterns, which in turn impose striking climate gradients across the region. Glaciers are sensitive indicators of climate change and respond to changes in climate gradients over time by advancing during cold and wet periods and receding during warm and dry periods. The aim of this thesis is to investigate whether there are large-scale patterns in how past glaciers in the Tian Shan and the Altai Mountains of Central Asia responded to climate change. Multiple methods have been used, including: remote sensing, terrain analysis, field investigations, and cosmogenic nuclide (CN) dating. The glacial landform records indicate that the region experienced mainly alpine-style glaciations in the past. Large complexes of ice-marginal moraines in high elevation basins are evidence of outlet glaciers sourced from large valley glaciers, ice caps and ice-fields, and these moraine sequences, record the maximum extent of paleoglaciation. In the Ikh-Turgen Mountains, located in the continental, eastern Altai Mountains, deglaciation of these moraines occurred during marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 3 at ~45 ka. This is consistent with a colder and wetter climate during this time, inferred from ice core and lake level proxies. Another deglacial phase occurred during MIS 2 at ~23 ka, synchronous with the global Last Glacial Maximum. In the Russian Altai Mountains, lobate moraines in the Chuya Basin indicate deglaciation at ~19 ka, by a highly dynamic paleoglacier in the Chagan-Uzun catchment, which experienced surge-like behaviour. Furthermore, across the Tian Shan, an evaluation of new and existing CN glacial chronologies (25 dated moraines) indicates that only one regional glacial stage, between 15 and 28 ka (MIS 2), can be defined and spatially correlated across the region. These paleoglaciers were mainly restricted to valleys as a result of arid conditions during this time and variation in their extents is interpreted to reflect topographic modulation on regional climate. The ages of the oldest evidence for robust local glacial stages in the Tian Shan are not yet well constrained, however, moraines in the central Kyrgyz Tian Shan and the eastern Chinese Tian Shan have apparent minimum ages overlapping with MIS 5 and MIS 3 (with missing MIS 4 and 6 stages). However, different geological processes, such as inheritance and post-depositional shielding (e.g. deposition by surging glaciers or hummocky terrain deposition), have influenced the dating resolution, making several moraine ages inappropriate for regional comparison. Finally, to quantify regional patterns of paleoglaciation, the hypsometry (area-elevation distribution) of glacial landforms is used to estimate average paleo equilibrium line altitudes for the region. This analysis shows that while present-day ELAs mirror strong climate gradients, paleoglaciation patterns were characterised by more gentle ELA gradients. The paleo-ELA depressions across Central Asia were most prominent in the continental southern and eastern regions (500–700 m). Finally, the results from this thesis, show that Central Asia was repeatedly glaciated in the past, but underscore the importance of considering 1) catchment characteristics and styles of glaciation and 2) other non-climatic factors controlling glacier dynamics when interpreting CN chronologies to make paleoclimate inference.At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 2: Manuscript. Paper 4: Accepted. Paper 5: Manuscript.
Central Asia Paleoglaciology Project (CAPP)
44
Nobakht, Mohamad. "Characterisation of dust sources in Central Asia using remote sensing." Thesis, University of Reading, 2018. http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/78205/.
Full textAbstract:
Central Asian deserts are a significant source of dust in the middle latitudes, where economic activity and the health of millions of people are affected by dust storms. Detailed knowledge of sources of dust, controls on their activity, seasonality and atmospheric pathways are of crucial importance but to date, these data are limited. This thesis presents a detailed database ofsources ofdust emissions in Central Asia, from western China to the Caspian Sea, obtained by a multi-scale analysis of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data. The multi-scale approach consists of the following steps: 1) MODIS Deep Blue Aerosol Optical Depth (DB AOD) at 10 km resolution, acquired between 2003 and 2014, is used to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution ofdust hotspots. 2) A dust enhancement algorithm was employed to obtain two composite images (Dust Enhancement Product, DEP) per day at 1 km resolution from MODIS Terra/Aqua acquisitions between 2003 and 2012, from which dust point sources (DPS) were detected by visual analysis of dust plumes and recorded in a database together with meteorological variables at each DPS location derived from the ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset. In all, more than 13500 DPS were identified. Using this multi-scale approach we provided a high resolution inventory of dust sources at sub-basin scale for Central Asia. Our analysis revealed several active source regions, the most active of which are the eastern part ofthe Taklmakan desert. An important finding was an increase in dust activity in the newly-formed desert ofthe Aralkum. Several ofthe identified dust source regions were not previously identified (e.g. sources in northern Afghanistan) or were not widely discussed in literature before (e.g. the Pre-Aral region in western Kazakhstan). Investigation of land surface characteristics and meteorological conditions at each source region revealed mechanisms for the formation of dust sources, including rapid desiccation of water bodies (e.g. Aral Sea), deflation of dust from fluvial sources (e.g. the Upper Amudarya region) and post-fire wind erosion (e.g. Pre-Aral and Lake Balkhash basins). Different seasonal patterns of dust emissions were observed as well as inter-annual trends. Comparison of DB AOD and DPS revealed a noticeable spatial bias in the AOD-based methods for detection of dust sources which is attributed to the fact that the highest atmospheric dust loadings are not always observed over the dust point sources.
45
Bagayev, Igor. "The energy-intensive legacy in Eastern Europe and Central Asia." Thesis, Paris Est, 2015. http://www.theses.fr/2015PESC0051.
Full textAbstract:
Cette thèse vise à analyser les enjeux et les conséquences la consommation énergétique dans les pays anciennement communistes d’Europe et d’Asie Centrale (EAC). Plus particulièrement, nous soulevons la question des politiques économiques à mettre en place afin d’améliorer l’efficacité énergétique dans cette région et analysons les conséquences en termes de pollution et de croissance de la spécialisation intensive en énergie de leurs économies.Le système d’économie planifié a profondément altéré les structures économiques et la trajectoire de consommation énergétique de ces pays. En effet, une des empreintes restantes de l’économie de type soviétique réside dans l’importante intensité énergétique et la forte spécialisation des pays EAC dans les industries intensives en énergie. Les récentes crises géopolitiques vis-à-vis de la Russie, l’épuisement des ressources énergétiques fossiles ainsi que la problématique environnementale mettent en exergue l’importance de la question énergétique dans ces pays.La présente thèse s’intéresse plus spécifiquement à deux problèmes fondamentaux. Comment améliorer les performances énergétiques des pays Est-Européens ? Et quel est l’impact de la spécialisation dans les industries structurellement intensives en énergie sur la croissance des pays EAC ?Dans le premier chapitre, nous analysons les fondations microéconomiques de la demande énergétique en se focalisant sur les déficiences de marché qui peuvent contraindre l’efficacité énergétique des firmes. Nous nous intéressons en particulier à l’effet relié au développement financier. L’inefficience des marchés financiers est une des principales explications du « paradoxe d’efficience énergétique », mais n’a pour l’instant pas été empiriquement démontré. Les résultats empiriques de ce chapitre montrent que les marchés financiers locaux jouent un rôle important dans la consommation énergétique des firmes.Le chapitre 2 examine dans quelle mesure la réglementation environnementale de l’Union Européenne (UE) impacte la spécialisation des pays est-européens dans les industries polluantes. En ce sens, ce chapitre traite de la question centrale du développement de havres de pollution en Europe de l’Est. Nos résultats indiquent que les exportations des pays EAC vers un pays de l’UE sont relativement plus importantes dans des secteurs polluants lorsque ce pays a dû mettre en place des mesures environnementales. Cet effet est rendu robuste au biais de variables omises grâce à l’inclusion d’un ensemble d’effets fixes. De plus, le problème potentiel de causalité inverse est traité grâce à l’utilisation d’un instrument exogène de politique environnementale basé sur les conditions climatiques des pays.Au-delà des problèmes liés à l’environnement, le chapitre 3 analyse les conséquences économiques de la spécialisation dans des industries énergivores dans la région EAC. En effet, cette spécialisation est un héritage direct de l’ancien système d’économie planifiée. L’économie planifiée de type soviétique a façonné une spécialisation dans des secteurs industriels très énergivores, et ce indépendamment des caractéristiques structurelles spécifiques des différents pays de l’ancien bloc de l’Est. La volonté idéologique et les distorsions de marché dans ces économies ont été les principaux moteurs d’un surdéveloppement des industries extrêmement énergivores. L’effet de la sur-spécialisation dans les industries intensives en énergie est strictement négatif et significatif dans toutes nos estimations. Ce résultat est robuste et met en exergue des symptômes de « maladie soviétique ». Les pays anciennement communistes qui maintiennent des distorsions de spécialisation dans les secteurs industriels développés sous le système d’économie planifiée font face à de moins bonnes performances économiques. Ainsi, maintenir une spécialisation industrielle intensive en énergie est inefficace aussi bien d’un point de vue environnemental que d’un point de vue économiqueThe current thesis raises important issues about the drivers able to improve energy intensity of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) region from both an efficiency point of view and in terms of structural specialization in energy-intensive sectors. In particular, we question about the rationale of keeping a high degree of specialization in energy-intensive sectors, given that this specialization was primarily based on the mechanisms of the former planned economy system. This dissertation consists of three empirical essays studying these issues.We focus on two main questions. How to improve energy and pollution performances of the ECA countries? And how the over-specialization in energy-intensive sectors affects their economic growth? The first question is examined in Chapters 1 and 2, whereas the second question is discussed in Chapter 3.To address these issues there is a need to analyze the two components of the energy intensity, namely the energy efficiency and the structural specialization in energy intensive sectors, with the adequate levels of investigation. To cover the scope of the different problems raised by the legacy of high energy intensity in the ECA countries, I thus rely on micro-, sector- and macro-level analysis. Chapter 1 considers the market constraints to firm-level energy efficiency and examines whether the financial development explains the firm-level energy efficiency. Then, using bilateral export flows at the industry-level, Chapter 2 studies how environmental policy inside the EU influences the energy- and pollution- intensive specialization in ECA countries that are not EU members. More specifically, this chapter aims to exhibit to what extent the EU environmental stringency fosters the pollution havens in the ECA region by stimulating exports in energy-intensive sectors. And finally, Chapter 3 seeks to provide macroeconomic evidence about the growth consequences of the maintaining of a specialization highly oriented towards energy-intensive sectors. This ultimate chapter tries to identify whether over-specialization in energy-intensive sectors is negative for growth performances in this region
46
McAdams, Thomas Hartarska Valentina M. Gropper Daniel M. "Financing constraints and microfinance in Eastern Europe and Central Asia." Auburn, Ala, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/10415/1589.
Full text
47
Ismailov, Mirvali. "Financial and economic impacts of trade openness in Central Asia." View electronic thesis (PDF), 2009. http://dl.uncw.edu/etd/2009-3/rp/ismailovm/mirvaliismailov.pdf.
Full text
48
Dilleen, Connor School of Politics & International Relations UNSW. "The international dimensions of nationalism in Central Asia: can the relationship between international security, state sovereignty and emerging ethnonationalism be reconciled in Post-Soviet Central Asia?" Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of Politics and International Relations, 2005. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/23972.
Full textAbstract:
The thesis tracks the emergence of western forms of nationalism in republics of Post- Soviet Central Asia, and assesses the likelihood of ethnic conflict in the region, and its probably consequences. It also considers the means by which the heterogenous populations in Central Asia may be more effectively accommodated within the individual republics. The thesis is conceived in three sections. The first section examines the causes and consequences of ethnic conflict, and discusses the implications of ethnic conflict in Central Asia from the perspective of state sovereignty and international security. The second section assesses the evolution of ethnicity and identity in Central Asia, the impact of Soviet nationalities policies and the impact of newly enforceable territorial sovereignty on the interconnected populations of the region. The third, and concluding, section considers the impact of state actors and regional and international institutions on the Central Asian republics, and considers strategies that may mitigate the potential for ethnic conflict in the region. The thesis concludes that emerging ethnonationalism in Post-Soviet Central Asia poses a real threat to regional and international security. The individual republics are pursuing policies which discriminate against large proportions of their populations. The Central Asian republics are also struggling with their newly found sovereignty, especially in respect to their asymmetrical relationships with states such as Russia, China and the U.S.A. The republics should consider alternative forms of governance, such as national cultural autonomy or consociation, which may contribute to a lessening of the tensions between ethnic or identity groups. The international community, in the form of the United Nations or other appropriate organisations, should recognise the potential for ethnic conflict in the region, and should actively encourage the states to adopt innovative forms of government that accommodate the diverse needs of their heterogenous populations.
49
Kulakhmetova, Anel. "Evolving notions of childhood : an example of Kazakhstan." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2018. https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/273670.
Full textAbstract:
This research is aimed at understanding versatile and evolving perceptions of childhood in Kazakhstan after the independence of the country. It draws on a variety of primary data including in-depth interviews and surveys with young people and representatives of non- governmental organisations working with young people. This research employs two concepts of sociology of childhood, which address the socio-historical condition of childhood as a social experience. It explores the role children played in traditional Kazakh families in the mid-19th- beginning of the 20th century. It also addresses state policy concerning children in Kazakhstan after independence. This research presents an analysis of how young participants perceive categories of ‘child’ and ‘adult.’ The question is raised whether traditional thresholds of childhood like education, marriage, and financial independence still play a role in understanding the transition from childhood to adulthood. Further, it presents a dialogue between young participants of this research with their older contemporaries on the characteristics of the young generation born after the independence. Finally, it sheds more light on discrimination of young females in the family and society.
50
Shi, Guanzhong. "Polycyclic evolution of the Eastern Central-Asia orogenic belt : microtectonic analysis, geochronology and tectonics in central Inner Mongolia." Phd thesis, Université d'Orléans, 2013. http://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01022938.
Full textAbstract:
It is hotly debated about the final closural time and position of the Paleo-Asian Ocean. Some geologists advocated the "Solonker" suture marks the final closural zone in Permian, whereas others insist in middle Paleozoic. Our three study areas, the Hongqi, the Ondor Sum and the Mandula is essential and important to solve those controversies. The litho-tectonic units recognized in the Hongqi-Ondor Sum area include the Hongqi-Ondor Sum mélange belt, the Bainaimiao arc belt, North China Craton and post-orogenic unconformably sedimentary rocks. The Hongqi-Ondor Sum mélange belt experienced two phase ductile deformation and one phase ductile-brittle deformation. D1 is responsible for the regional greenschist foliation S1, elongated mineral lineation L1, and intrafolial fold F1. The kinematic criteria indicates a top-to-the-NW shearing sense. D2 is characterized by various sized of unsymmetrical folds with nearly NE axis corresponding to the NW thrust shearing. D3 formed the regional framework in the Hongqi and the Ondor Sum areas. The Mandula area contains olistostrome sediments, turbiditic sediments and volcano-sedimentary rocks. Detrital zircon grains in sedimentary samples argue the Mandula study area received the southern Bainaimiao arc materials and coeval Permian volcanic erupting materials nearby. The sediments and volcanic rocks in Mandula area subject a nearly NW-SE or N-S compressional shortening. The geological data support that an Early Paleozoic subduction and collsioan, Late Palezoic rifting and rift closure model. The so called "Solonker" ophiolitic fragments indeed are olistostrome. Typical ophiolite components are not observed in the Mandula area.