RT published an informative article; one that academics might categorize a "survey" historiography summarizing Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan territorial conflicts before and after the Glasnost fracture in central planning. It's brief yet too long to reproduce in whole or part here. What I find surprising is the authors' criticism of post-imperial bolshivik indifference to ethnic traditions when drawing political divisions (read: administrative districts). To my mind, each "geopolitical time bomb" recalls the organizational method employed by Great Powers to rationalize (read: simplify ) mangement rules, later divestment or, ahem, liberation, of their "over-seas territories". Vestgial "borders" are  a living legacy with which SCO Council members are all too familiar.

Another Afghanistan in the making? How a fully-fledged war between two ex-Soviet states could threaten stability in Central Asia, What has happened on the border of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan and where will it lead?

Introduction

While the leaders of more than 20 major Asian countries - including Russia, China, Turkey, and India - held talks in the ancient city of Samarkand only a few hundred kilometers away, large-scale hostilities erupted on the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, last week. As their presidents also participated in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, the conflict erupted with the use of heavy weapons and claimed hundreds of lives.

It all began on Wednesday, when the Kyrgyz border service discovered their Tajik counterparts had taken up combat positions on part of the state border, thus nullifying previously reached agreements. In response to the demand to leave the territory, they opened fire. Fighting with the use of heavy weapons continued for several days. The death toll was much higher than in the course of several past incidents. Some 59 deaths were reported in Bishkek and 41 in Dushanbe. Most likely, these are not the final numbers.

On Monday, the heads of the intelligence services of the two countries signed a peace protocol. However, the reasons that forced the parties to take up arms have not disappeared, making a repetition of the conflict almost inevitable.

Gordian Knot of the East
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