“Central Asia: Emerging
Identities”
Caucasus and
Central Asia Program,
Institute for
Slavic, East European and Eurasian Studies
University of
California, Berkeley
April 21-22, 2001
Prec-conference Draft---March 26, 2001
Gregory Gleason
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131 USA
505-277-7391 (desk) 505-277-3161 (fax)
Email: gleasong@unm.edu Website: www.unm.edu/~gleasong
A decade after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Europe and Asia continue to inhabit a divided continent. The deep ideological divisions of the Cold World era have faded. But the dawn has not yet broken on a new era of economic integration linking the countries of the Eurasian continent. The divisions among the countries in the past were primarily ideological in character. But these divisions were reinforced in the concrete, steel and mortar of the region’s physical infrastructures. The roads, bridges, airports, railroads, pipelines, waterways, seaports, electric grids, and telecommunication systems of the region were shaped by the financing priorities of the superpower competition. Today those same physical infrastructures continue to frame many of the most important transactions in the region. The influence of these public infrastructures is particularizing and isolating, hindering trade and development and creating great obstacles for cooperation across the region. Now that the financing priorities of the Cold War era have faded, what new priorities should replace them? What policies may serve to overcome the isolationism and autarky of many countries of the region? What role should the international community play in shaping the conceptual foundations for infrastructure development that may foster new identities for the peoples of Central Asia?