Subject: Institute for Central Asia Development--Moscow
From: Center for Civil Society International (ccsi@u.washington.edu)
Date: Mon Apr 17 2000 - 15:42:10 EDT
INSTITUTE FOR CENTRAL ASIA DEVELOPMENT
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
Institute for Central Asia Development (ICAD) was registered as
regional public organisation by the Moscow Head Department of Justice
of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation on 30 September
1999.
The Founders:
Dr. Valentin BUSHKOV.
Head of the Central Asia Department of the Institute of Ethnology and
Anthropology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Sodiq CHORUBKASHOV.
Senior research worker of the Inquiries Department of the All Russia
Centre of the Public Opinion Investigation.
Dr. Aziz NIYAZI.
Senior research worker of the Department of Comparative Theoretical
Studies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy
of Sciences.
ICAD is an organisation of scientists, having common scientific
interests in studying multilateral problems of Central Asia, first of
all the problems of the stable development of the region and
integration processes within the CIS.
Director of the Institute of
Central Asia Development
Aziz NIYAZI
Department of Comparative Theoretical Studies
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
12 Rozhdestvenka Street, Moscow 103753, Russian Federation
Tel.: +7095 925-73-84; 179-88-08 Fax: +7095 975-23-96
E-mail: nxrniya@cityline.ru
MAIN ACTIVITIES
- Scientific studies and enlightenment activity to reach stability
and stable development in Central Asia and CIS.
- Organising and holding scientific-practical conferences, including
as participants leading local and foreign scientists and experts.
- Elaboration of independent scientific recommendations and projects
concerning ways of solution of important social, economic and
ecological problems.
- Helping in settling conflicts and carrying out peace projects.
- Information and analytical work, sociological inquiries, marketing.
- Carrying out independent public expertise of the programs of social
and economic development.
- Practical assistance to the interested enterprises and
organisations in carrying out concrete scientific-technical,
economic, social and ecological projects.
- Developing scientific contacts with foreign scientists and
scientific centres.
- Publication work, participation in video and film production.
PROJECTS
PEACE THROUGH STABLE DEVELOPMENT
General Long-term Program
Carrying out interdisciplinery theoretical and applied research of
conflicts context caused by social and ecological deformations.
Participation in working out stable development models targeted at
overcoming existing and potential conflict situations at global,
regional, national and local levels.
Major Projects within General Long-term Program:
1. CENTRAL ASIA AND THE CAUCASUS - PEACE THROUGH STABLE DEVELOPMENT
2. ENVIRONMENT, SOCIETY AND TRADITION IN THE MOSLEM WORLD
3. RUSSIA AND THE MOSLEM WORLD: TOGETHER TO STABLE DEVELOPMENT
4. RUSSIA AND CENTRAL ASIA: INTEGRATION AND STABLE DEVELOPMENT
RESEARCH RELEVANCE OF MAJOR PROJECTS
The social and ecological approach is the leading one in the theory
of development during the last several years. The World Scientific
Community comes to a common conclusion that environment, equally to
social, economic and political relations, plays its system-forming
role in the life of society, and the World in this century will be
defined by three global factors: population growth, exhausting of
non-renewable natural resources and degradation of the environment.
The nasty forecasts of the Club of Rome on social and ecological
catastrophes of the end of the 20th century are now already becoming
a reality, but not at the post-industrial West. They are becoming a
reality within the so called Third World, among which most of the
republics of the former Soviet Union may be reckoned.
Industrial development of the last decades, ignoring environmental
and climatic conditions, demographic process and traditional activity
culture in the southern regions of the Soviet Union, first of all in
Central Asia and the Caucasus, contributed to the growth of conflict
potential. There are around 100 places of conflicts or potential
conflicts, observed by the experts. Societies, in which trespassing
technological risk leads to degradation processes in biosphere and
further on to changes of social behavior to aggression, start to
explode from the inside.
Similar processes can be observed at the rest of the Moslem East. As
a rule, the deep reasons of social and ecological disharmony,
resulting from accelerated modernization, constitute the basis for
conflicts both within the countries and between the countries, like
it is in Moslem regions of the CIS. Industrialization, often
senseless, of mainly agricultural and traditional societies is
accompanied by irrational and wasteful use of natural resources,
violent attitude to traditional culture. The Moslem countries of CIS
and outside of it are facing the same problems: overpopulation of
towns, cities and fertile valleys, poverty, forced or involuntary
migration, monocultural development of agriculture, developing big
metallurgical, chemical, machine-building and electric power
generating enterprises ignoring their possible danger to environment,
as well as ignoring local natural and climatic peculiarities. All
this is accompanied by accelerated demographic growth, scarcity of
water, land, energy and food resources, which leads to detrimental
impact both on environment and society. Industrial attack on
traditional societies leads to degradation of all spheres of life.
Tajikistan may serve as a vivid example of this. The research carried
out by us shows that the above mentioned processes constitute the
inner impetus of the conflict within this country. The same
observation is true about Iran during the Shah reign, Algeria, Egypt,
Chechnya, Sudan and some other countries. There exists a similar
threat in Kirgizia, Dagestan, some regions of Uzbekistan. The threat
is universal. It is characteristic of a system crisis of the new
generation--the crisis of social life, environment, economics,
demography, spiritual and cultural life, crisis of intellect, state,
politics, that is of the whole system of human life. Such deep crisis
usually appear in semi-industrial / semi-traditional countries
notwithstanding the models of their political statute. Different isms
are of no great importance under the circumstances.
There is a great need of new decisions on overcoming such crisis. The
experience of many developing countries, especially in Moslem
regions, demonstrates that it is impossible to overcome the crisis
just through implementing liberal political institutes and economic
values of the developed post-industrial countries. Being laid over
the matrix of well-established local social ties, they do not bring
the expected result, and sometimes, which is even worse, slow down
social development.
The solution can be found in working out general principles of the
stable development model, and its modifications for different
countries and regions. There is a need in inter-subjects
investigations on working out long-term strategic programs of
simultaneous complex decisions of problems of demography, settlement
policy, economics and state, harmonization of the business activity
with environment. Alongside with it there should be taken into
consideration the stabilizing cultural traditions of the Moslem
world, those traditions which preserve spiritual and physical health
of a person and maintain careful attitude towards nature.
Green alternative to the destroying impact of consumption society is
gaining strength in a parallel manner in the West and the East, each
choosing its own way. The East applies to cultural and civilisational
basement, ethical philosophy, looks for the way out in state and
political models of the third way. The West relies first of all upon
modern science and technology. But the leading ideas of both the East
and the West are very much similar even despite of there scarce
acquaintance with theories of development and experience of each
other. Materialistic industrial ideology of subjugation of nature and
unlimited consumption is now giving way to acquiring the values of
harmony with nature and limited consumption.
Our aim is to support the green tendency and to contribute to uniting
eastern and western experience on the way of the stable development.
Aziz NIYAZI
Director of the Institute of
Central Asia Development
Department of Comparative Theoretical Studies
Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences
12 Rozhdestvenka Street, Moscow 103753, Russian Federation
Tel.: +7095 925-73-84; 179-88-08 Fax: +7095 975-23-96
E-mail: nxrniya@cityline.ru
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