Publication Name

Environment and Security

Establishing international borders has made access to

water resources and upkeep of the water infrastructure

an extremely complex issue. Tension and even localized

violent clashes over access to water are recurrent along

the borders of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

However tension over access to water is also common in

mono-ethnic and non-border communities, where disputes

often have an elite dimension and mostly involve local com-

munities and district or regional authorities. Disputes and

tension between collective farms and private farmers will

become more frequent especially if authorities continue

their policy of supporting collective farms.

Deforestation and overuse of pasture

are issues of growing

concern, which may degenerate into a security problem,

particularly in border areas and enclaves.

Badly maintained radioactive dumps and tailing contain-

ments, and several working industrial facilities constitute

environmental hotspots.

In a few cases national and regional

authorities, and the general public, see pollution as a major

issue and a security threat

. The fact that the activities giv-

ing rise to environmental concern are often essential to the

economy too certainly contributes to the cautious approach

to industrial pollution generally adopted by the various

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