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Europe and the reshaped global order / Other publications

The EU, Central Asia and Security Sector Reform

23/11/2009 By Jos Boonstra

OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut   (L) meets with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev (R)in Astana on November 12, 2009 during a working visit to the central Asian nations (AFP/Getty Images).

Central Asia faces a broad range of security challenges. Due to the region’s position at the crossroads between Russia, China, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and the Caspian Sea it is confronted with a range of trans-national issues such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, organised crime and terrorism. Central Asia also encounters specific regional threats including scarcity of water resources for generating power and irrigation purposes, which is currently causing tension. 

On a national level the five Central Asian republics face the threat of instability due to bad governance and the harsh impact of the economic crisis. The European Union regards itself as a security actor and takes a keen interest in working with Central Asian states on the basis of joint security interests. One security aspect that is key to both national security and international and regional security cooperation is the concept of Security Sector Reform (SSR), which aims to support a locally driven reform effort of all national security-related agencies and oversight mechanisms.

This EUCAM policy brief assesses in what aspects of SSR the EU is engaged in with Central Asia and in what context these possible activities should be viewed.

 

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Keywords

Central Asia and Russia Civil society Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Security Sector Reform Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan

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Bio author: Jos Boonstra

Central Asia. Eastern Europe. The Balkans. Caucasus. CSDP.NATO.OSCE.Security Sector Reform. Eastern Partnership.