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Электронное приложение к журналу «
Международная жизнь
»
Author : V. Evseev
Senior Research Fellow, Doctoral Candidate, Center for Central Asia, Caucasus and Ural-Volga Region,
Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Candidate of Science (Engineering)
THE STATES OF CENTRAL ASIA faced the Afghan problem
practically right in the wake of the disintegration of the Soviet
Union. It first showed in ideas of radical Islam trickling into them
with the resumption of ties with Uzbek and Tajik relatives who
lived in Afghanistan. Uzbekistan's President Islam Karimov man-
aged to limit the negative impact of this process. Things, however,
were totally different in Tajikistan where for the duration of civil
war Afghanistan was in effect a hinterland base for the irreconcil-
able opposition.
Seizing power in Kabul, the Taliban movement began exporting
more than their ideas alone. Streams of weapons, drugs and
trained militants started to flow. This could have very well led to
the overthrowing of secular authoritarian regimes in the region.
At first sight it may seem that, given the best battle-ready and well-equipped armed force in the region, Uzbekistan
should fear no outside threat. This is not so, however, due to its ongoing internal instability. Under the circumstances,
even export of the ideas of radical Islam is dangerous, let alone infiltration by well-armed and trained groups of mili-
tants.
RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM and terrorism present the greatest unconventional threats to the secular regimes of Central
Asia. These are methods which are actively employed by the radical followers of Islam whose objective is to build a
global caliphate with Central Asia as its component part.
WAR ON DRUGS in Central Asia is now a formidable problem caused by a significant increase in opium production
both in neighboring Afghanistan and Central Asian states. The Taliban have begun to encourage this production and
use profits to fund their activities. At the same time, there is a merger on the way in the region between the narco-mafia
and the local political forces and its penetration into government bodies and structures.
In June 2001, the SCO summit in Shanghai passed a convention on combating terrorism, separatism and extremism.
The SCO members created the Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS) to coordinate efforts of law and order agencies
and special services of the SCO member countries in combating terrorism, separatism and extremism, illegal trade in
drugs, weapons, and illegal migration. The SCO heads of state signed an appropriate treaty during the SCO summit in
St. Petersburg in June 2002.
The working body of RATS is its executive committee and its main functions are the following:
- To put together and maintain an appropriate data bank;
- To establish (maintain) working contacts and exchange information with the other states and international organizations
on the issues of war against terrorism, extremism and separatism;
- To assist in the prevention of terrorist acts on the territory of SCO member states;
- To line up information and analysis on combating the "three manifestations of evil"* in SCO member states and else-
where in the world.
Unlike the Collective Security Treaty Organization (ODKB), RATS has no military contingents of its own and only rep-
resents a mechanism for coordination and information analysis support for appropriate agencies in SCO member states
for the purpose of combating terrorism, extremism and separatism. To enhance its efficiency, RATS has a council whose
members are heads of the national security services of SCO members.20
Given the formidable socioeconomic problems, persisting quarrels between ethnic groups and governments and the
continuing problem of transfer of supreme power, especially in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, can result in
complete destabilization of the entire region complicated with huge flows of refugees, weapons, narcotics, and radical
ideas into Russia. It is possible to avoid this negative turn of events only if the entire potential of the Shanghai Coop-
eration Organization is mobilized to rebuff the above threats.
Afghanistan and Unconventional Threats to Central Asia