The development of the frontier zones of the Global South is important because they are territories for dialogue. This is also important for the contact zones themselves, since special opportunities for development can arise at the intersection of interests, Kubatbek Rakhimov and Alexey Mikhalev write.
The Global South is a concept that today, depending on the definition, accounts for up to 80% of the population of planet Earth, which is why it is synonymous with the “global majority”. Before talking about the Global South, we need to define its boundaries, at this stage; discrepancies immediately appear. Willy Brandt once drew the dividing line at the 30th parallel north. He believed a completely different world began beyond this civilizational boundary. In Brandt’s coordinate system, Soviet Central Asia did not belong to the so-called “poor South”. However, it is the closest to the border between the two macro-regions, and with any correction of the definition of the “poor South” it could well be included in it. It has always been difficult to define Soviet “Central Asia and Kazakhstan” or today’s Central Asia as the Global South due to the high level of education and quality of medicine here. However, poverty and an acute shortage of fresh water make it possible to say that some of the five post-Soviet republics have already become part of the Global South.
Today, the “North – South” dichotomy does not just reflect an attempt to find a new form of social justice, but also a well-founded anti-colonial rhetoric. In essence, this is a neo-Marxist reading of global inequality. Referring to the ideas of Mao Zedong, on the one hand, and Emmanuel Wallerstein, on the other, the concept of the Global South becomes an instrument of struggle to overcome the unfair distribution of wealth on planet Earth.
Today, other lines of demarcation between the “North” and “South” have emerged – as economic systems. But the unity in understanding is still preserved. The modern Global South can be seen as one construct despite its diversity of civilizations, economic structures and dominant cultures. By saying Global South we mean the structures that represent it in the international arena, such as the SCO, BRICS+, and partly the EAEU. They have emerged as the “voice” of the Global South in the international arena. From an intellectual abstraction or imaginary space, the Global South has long become a real place where economic and political interests clash, and Central Asia has become its frontier. In other words, Central Asia is a contact zone where the interests of the Global North and the countries of the South intersect.
Modern Central Asia is increasingly becoming a communication bridge for the Global South, enabling it to find compromise amidst contemporary geopolitical crises. Within the South-South cooperation framework, Central Asia has also emerged as a key geopolitical node. The region's diplomatic projects, particularly the C5+ format, have succeeded in creating a platform for dialogue. The C5+ negotiating format is a way for a frontier – which is not yet recognized as such – to function, a paradox in this era of global polarization. This frontier nature is particularly evident when viewed from the perspective of the Big2 partnership (Russia + China), between whose borders the Central Asian region is situated. This is precisely why dialogue within the C5+ framework is becoming so significant and promising.
This platform for dialogue is important, but it is only one of many. In the future, C5+ has a chance to develop a conventional formula for the self-determination of the Global South.
Reflection on the fact that Central Asia is a frontier of the Global North and South has not yet been done, either in the region itself or outside it. We can assume that this comprehension is yet to come at a variety of venues, and it is not a fact that the expert community will come to unanimous approval of this idea. The interests of Russia, China, India, the USA, France, the United Kingdom and many other countries intersect in Central Asia. Several other regions can boast of such characteristics today, but Central Asia still stands out in playing the role of a bridge between East and West as well as North and South; a dominant civilizational feature here since the time of the Silk Road.
In addition, the fact is that this region has a significant volume of natural resource reserves, without which it is impossible to ensure the development of the world's economies as a whole. The British Petroleum Corporation’s Yearbook of World Energy Statistics for 2019 states that Central Asia’s proven oil reserves amount to about 4.1 billion tonnes, which is about 1.8% of the world’s total proven oil reserves.
Its proven natural gas reserves of 21.7 trillion cubic meters make up about 11% of the world’s total proven gas reserves. These hydrocarbon reserves are concentrated mainly in three countries: Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Kazakhstan has the largest oil storage and development capacity in Central Asia; its oil reserves in 2017 were 3.93 billion tonnes, ranking 12th in the world and constituting about 1.8% of the world’s total known volume. It is difficult to discuss large projects of the Global North or South without speaking about Central Asia, since in addition to hydrocarbons, the region is rich in uranium and rare earth metals.
Rosatom’s advanced projects are currently being implemented in Central Asia, which will help overcome the existing energy deficit. In the context of the global race for uranium deposits, Rosatom’s projects ensure development, not the production of valuable deposits. This example is important in showing the difference between the “anti-colonial” Big2 projects and French initiatives in the field of nuclear energy. A way out of the “rich North – poor South” relationship paradigm is possible if the ever-growing energy deficit is overcome. In these conditions, China is the undisputed world leader in increasing renewable energy capacity in the countries of the Global South and is already promoting its technologies to the world energy technologies markets. The very definition of the South already implies the presence of a virtually inexhaustible source of energy – the sun. Chinese and Russian companies are actively promoting renewable energy projects in the countries of Central Asia and in the coming years we will see this policy generate very impressive results.
The sharp increase in the energy potential of countries on both sides of Central Asia automatically opens up several prospects for it, such as the extraction of underground water for agriculture, significant growth in industry, and the rapid development of cities as key hubs of economic growth. China and Russia are equally successful, albeit asymmetrically, in promoting energy projects in the countries of Central Asia. This experience can serve as a model for the countries of the Global South. The borderline socio-economic position of Central Asia is a resource for the leading countries of the Global South. For example, the presence of a workforce in the region capable of managing complex production processes, from assembly lines to high-tech manufacturing, allows for the implementation of complex projects that require both the quality of labour reserves and developed infrastructure.
Central Asia, as a frontier zone for the Big2, stands not only to benefit from multipolarity and equality, but also the attempt to solve the problem of poverty according to three of the three key UN criteria (access to education, electricity and drinking water). The problem of the drying up of the Aral Sea, the shortage of fresh water, and the uneven distribution of energy resources – all these are factors that affect not only the immediate neighbours of Central Asia (the Big2 countries), but also the Global South as a whole. Hence the key status of the issue of renewable energy sources, in particular, whether China will become a key/monopoly supplier of solar energy processing technologies.
In conclusion, in reflecting upon the difficulties facing most of the Global South, we would like to suggest that its diversity and polyphony may turn out to be a strong point. This will serve as the basis for an equal multipolar world, which both Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin have spoken about. Of course, it is worth thinking about the boundaries of the Global South, and how the notorious Brandt line can shift, and about the role of model regions of cooperation such as Central Asia. Today, the answers to these questions still require careful consideration.
The development of the frontier zones of the Global South is so important because they are territories for dialogue. This is also important for the contact zones themselves, since special opportunities for development can arise at the intersection of interests. But Central Asia, like the Global South, is a heterogeneous and contradictory concept, regarding both the terms are the result of the unification of heterogeneous states into larger semantic units. However, the language of large categories, generated by a time of even greater turbulence, requires us to operate with cumbersome abstractions and ignore heterogeneity.
