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In Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond Hermann Kreutzmann offers insights in his fieldwork-based research in High Asia during four decades.
A human-geographical perspective is pursued in which case studies about colonial and post-colonial boundary-making, exchange relations of mountain communities across international borders, the transformation of agricultural and pastoral practices and the effects of modernisation strategies in neighbouring countries are centred in the Hindukush, Wakhan Quadrangle, Pamirian Crossroads, Karakoram Mountains and Himalaya. Empirical evidence is augmented by in-depth archival research, thus allowing a perspective from the 19th to the 21st century.
By shifting the focus to mountain peripheries and emphasising spaces in between urban centres of power in Afghanistan, Pakistan, China, and the Central Asian Republics different arenas of confrontation and effective changes emerge.

Abstract

Peak opium production was reached in 2017 when Afghanistan became the world-market leader in opium production in recent times. Historically only the British Empire had surpassed as China’s prime supplier prior to the mid-19th-century Opium Wars. Both situations belong to different historical periods. In colonial times the dominant superpower was engaged in major drug-dealings; nowadays a poor country such as Afghanistan has gained a dominant position in production but not in profit-making. Nearly half a century after Richard Nixon’s declaration of a ‘war on drugs’ Afghanistan and Myanmar are the prime suppliers of the world market. The spending of 611 billion US dollars on US-led military activities in Afghanistan since 9/11 has made Afghanistan the prime focus of actions to control the spread of drugs; more than two fifths of all United States’ spending for security issues was allocated in Afghanistan. Despite all these efforts Afghanistan has maintained its position as leading supplier of opiates to the end-user markets only after 9/11. Three questions are discussed in the article: How could Afghanistan emerge from oblivion to gain such a prime standing in cultivating and processing poppy (Papaver somniferum) and its derivates like morphine and heroin? How could illicit poppy cultivation become such a persistent and dominant cash crop in Afghanistan across all changes of governance and international relations? What factors allow expanding and sustaining the value chain of opiates from Asian to global markets?

In: Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond

Abstract

The Afghan poppy cultivation is presented here as a case in point to exemplify the linkages between external influences and local effects. World market and power relations have influenced cultivation patterns, processing, and trafficking. At the same time, poppy cultivation pinpoints an internal development which is strongly linked to deteriorating state control, warlordism, and regional power politics. Opium production has served as a major source of revenue for the upholding of disparate political structures which reflect the present political map of Afghanistan. Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan gained a substantial push during the last quarter century, from an annual production of 200 tons in 1979 to 4,200 tons in 2004, making use of former development efforts in creating irrigated oases in Helmand and Nangarhar. Prices rose after the Taliban’s 2001 ban on production, raising farmers’ incomes substantially and turning opium into an unrivalled cash crop. Fairly new production zones have been added in recent times; for example, Badakhshan – the stronghold of the Northern Alliance – has gained the third position with major increases in the last few years. Afghanistan’s poppy cultivation and opium production has to be interpreted in terms of globalization and fragmentation. Drug trafficking affects the neighboring states, namely, Iran, Tajikistan, and Pakistan, as they function as consumer markets as well as trade routes for contraband drugs heading towards the West. Consequently, the Afghan poppy cultivation is interpreted in a holistic manner.

In: Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond

Abstract

The establishment of a Russian village in Potsdam at the beginning of the 19th cen-tury is a peculiarity that can be perceived as a symbol of political vagaries and changeovers in the aftermath of Napoleon’s conquest of Prussia. Alexandrovka func-tioned as a showpiece for the Stein-Hardenberg reforms in terms of planed village and new agricultural policies. Property rights for land tillers, new cultivation tech-nologies and especially orchards played an important role. The surprising fact that this Russian village in Prussia has survived until today, has been due to the percep-tion of its historical value. Alexandrovka has been preserved as an attractive cultural heritage sight and included in Potsdam’s World Heritage Site since 1999. Alexan-drovka’s setting might be the only entirely preserved surviving example of a so-called Russian artificial village. Its role model was the now extinct Glasovo.

In: Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond

Abstract

The historical process of repeated territorial reorganization, renaming and creation of spatial entities distinguishes Gilgit-Baltistan as an arena in which conflicts and disputes take place over political and administrative autonomy. Mapped and recorded boundaries were introduced in the Hindukush-Karakoram-Himalaya ranges in the late 19th century and subsequently partly fixated on the ground. The heritage of the ‘Great Game’ has been the source of conflict and war until today. Kashmir, the Siachin Glacier and Gilgit-Baltistan are prime examples of virulent disputes which are still burning issues today. The status of the Gigit-Baltistan is a legacy from the British Raj and is rooted in the overall Kashmir conflict. Present competition for more autonomy and representation in federal institutions is linked to the country’s uneven participatory approach that is reflected in spatial entities confronted with extra-constitutional status, the application of colonial rules, and the implementation of indirect rule in tribal areas, as well as the direct administration of disenfranchised people by the centre of power. Borders are the identifiable results of conflict constellations and administrative attempts to resolve them. Contested administrative setups include quarrels about naming them; demands for equitable quota systems and legitimate representation in public services are struggles for job-sharing and personal security; regionalism and sectarian clashes form the spectrum of social, spatial and political boundary-making in Gilgit-Baltistan.

In: Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond

Abstract

The Pamirian Knot is an exemplary case where boundaries and diversity meet. These two aspects are used as distinguishing classifiers in numerous contexts. Boundary-making plays a major role in the political sphere when the momentum and range of power are at stake. Long-lasting effects can be observed in colonial contexts, in the process of nation-building and in the delineation of spheres of influence. When discussing the significance of colonial intervention and geopolitical interference we have to keep in mind external strategies and their implementation versus regional and local responses. The present-day perception of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Pakistan as nation states is strongly linked to their political affiliation in the 20th century in general and during the Cold War in particular. Diversity is discussed in ecological and linguistic contexts that have a long-ranging history, while geopolitical roots are followed back to the ‘Great Game’ an its aftermath in terms of boundary-making, trade and exchange relations. Case studies are presented from Wakhan, Shughnan and Darwaz representing a divide between Afghan and Tajik Badakhshan. China’s borderlands have come into focus since the dissent over the alignment of its international boundaries with Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have led to political pressure and the cessation of land to China. The dissolution of the Soviet Union stimulated numerous border disputes among the newly independent Central Asian states thereafter. They are entities that have undergone two major socio-economic and political transformations during the 20th century which have left several unsolved societal issues. The lesson to be learnt from geopolitical interventions in peripheral mountain areas could be that decisions made in the capitals of empires always affect the livelihoods of people in their peripheries who have not been involved in the decision-making process.

In: Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond

Abstract

The Central Asian oases have experienced tremendous changes that are linked to former historical settings and to modern transformations in the respective societies. Chinese Central Asia is changing at a high pace. The Kashgar oasis is taken as a case in point to highlight the process of modernisation in a Chinese setting leading to the recent establishment of the Kashgar Special Economic Zone.

In: Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond

Abstract

The discussion of socio-economic transformation in peripheral regions – among which remote high mountain areas occupy a prominent position – often centres around the project of modernization and its impact on regional development, i.e., the introduction of motorized vehicle transport on tarred surface roads and subsequent growth-related effects in infrastructure extension and commercial enterprises. Consequently, according to this concept development efforts in these regions are initiated from outside. It takes external interventions to modernize backward and stagnant ‘traditional’ societies. The analysis of historical developments and transformations in the Inner Asian interface shows us that trans-mountainous trade links across the Hindukush have played varying roles prior to the closure of international boundaries and the introduction of modern traffic infrastructure. Trade via the Hindukush connected the southern foothills and lowlands of the subcontinent with the urban oases of Central Asia. Certain principalities participated in long-distance exchange directly and indirectly as highland entrepots. In this context the Chitral route in conjunction with the Wakhan route played an important role placing Chitral bazaar in the centre of gravity in a trade triangle. The effects of trans-montane trade via Chitral are investigated from the internal and external perspective. The composition of trade commodities, the local extraction of tolls from travellers and the provision of porterage for traders are presented on the basis of historical evidence from archival sources as well as colonial considerations related to international exchange and interference in trade patterns. Thus, the uneven structure of participation in trans-montane trade is emphasized on. Finally, under the changed circumstances of present-day Central Asia the prospects of future trade links along traditional lines are briefly highlighted.

In: Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond

Abstract

Gilgit-Baltistan offers an example of unequal constitutional rights covering Pakistani citizens in the context of its polity. Pakistan has continued to control and govern Gilgit-Baltistan from the capital in Islamabad because this strategy allows the federal government to incorporate the area into Pakistan without giving full provincial status. To assess Gilgit-Baltistan’s constitutional position within Pakistan it is necessary to recapitulate some vital aspects of the Kashmir issue and the process of constitutional incorporation. Urgent demands for greater autonomy by the people of Gilgit-Baltistan regularly challenge the central government’s willingness and ability to first solve the Kashmir dispute with India. The divergent interests of Gilgit-Baltistan and the central government shed light on the outcomes and promises made by different governments of Pakistan. The struggle for equal participation and adequate representation of Gilgit-Baltistan and its status reflects the negotiations for sharing public resources and civil rights. The disputes about districts and divisions, posts and positions, names and denominations are visible signs of a tenacious process with little progress made so far.

In: Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond

Abstract

The topic of sustainability can be a salient link between natural and social sciences, between physical and human geography in addressing some of the major challenges for the future on earth. In this contribution the roots of sustainability thinking are explored leading to a discussion of its adaptation in geographical development research and practice. The introduction of sustainability has challenged conventional wisdom in classical development theories such as modernisation theory which is promising that all societies will be able to develop and to make up for existing gaps in well-being. The contrasting observation is that the developmentalist paradigm is kept alive, although its protagonists could be aware that both conceptual frameworks – modernisation and sustainability – might lead to conflicting results. In practice both seem to co-exist and to be prominent blue-prints for development policies and their implementation. The case study presented here will address a ‘tragedy of responsibility’ that has occurred in the rangeland and pastoral areas of Central and South Asia. Policy makers try to combine both strategies in their development plans for nomads and pastoral people. Earth and society are two dominant aspects that are shaping human-environmental relations in the fields of water, pasture and forests. The case of rangelands and pastures is covering an extended area, normally devoted to marginal communities and peripheral locations at the borders of human habitations, intensive utilisation practices and the limits of the ecumene. In times of debates about ‘green economies’, ‘payment for ecosystem services’, ‘land-grabbing’ and ‘property rights’ it is worthwhile to address earth, society and sustainability from the rural perspective and the margins of ecumene and economy. The difference between paradigms and practices offers significant insights in future challenges.

In: Pamirian Crossroads and Beyond