The administrative borders of the Soviet Central Asian republics were established in the 1920s. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, these five republics found themselves surrounded by new borders and faced the challenges of managing them. These included both the pre-existing borders with China, Afghanistan, and Iran (inherited from the Soviet Union), and newly created borders between the countries of Central Asia, as well as with the Russian Federation (and Azerbaijan, if maritime borders are included).
Borders in Central Asia
Twenty years later, the Soviet legacy still looms large when it comes to border management and security: borders are “defended” rather than “managed”; border services are military units rather than law enforcement agencies. Despite this, border threats and challenges have changed significantly during the past 20-25 years. There are few military threats either from countries neighboring this region, or from within the countries within the region itself. Instead, threats come from non-state actors, in the form of religious radicalism and extremism, terrorism, illegal drug trafficking, irregular migration, smuggling, and the like. These criminal activities are increasingly organized in a cross-border fashion, sometimes from outside of Central Asia. Border services in the region often lack the appropriate legal basis, institutional structures, and instruments needed to collect intelligence, use mobile police procedures, prepare cases for prosecution, and the like.
