Power and Water in Central Asia by Filippo Menga

Author:Filippo Menga [Menga, Filippo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Human Geography, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781317194316
Google: GiBBDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2017-12-01T04:39:33+00:00

The Tajik counter-hegemonic strategy

In her study of counter-hegemonic strategies in the Nile River basin, Ana Cascao (2008) observed that the main goals of the hegemonised are to challenge, contest, change, and create alternatives to the status quo. This applies also to Tajikistan, which is contesting and trying to change a status quo in which it cannot exploit its hydroelectric potential. The key goal of the Tajik counter-hegemonic strategies is to get the conditions necessary to build the Rogun Dam, a fundamental step in the achievement of the Tajik hydraulic mission, whose ultimate goal is to fully harness the power of its rivers and exploit its hydroelectric potential.

The carrier of the Tajik hydraulic mission is the Tajik hydrocracy. The Tajik hydrocracy appears to be mostly committed to implementing existing Soviet projects rather than planning or designing new ones. Its key members are high-level decision-makers and bureaucrats, such as the President Rahmon and officials from his close network of power, most notably (but not only) those covering the key roles of Foreign Minister (Hamrokhon Zarifi from 2006 to 2013, and Sirodjidin Aslov from 2013 onwards), Prime Minister (Akil Akilov from 1999 to 2013, and Kokhir Rasulzoda from 2013 onwards), and Tajik Permanent Representative to the UN (Sirodjidin Aslov from 2005 to 2013, and Mahmadamin Mahmadaminov from 2013 onwards). All of them have managed to keep a substantially constant position towards the Rogun Dam over the last decade, one that can be summarized in the motto “Rogun shall be built at all costs!”

The strategy adopted by the Tajik hydrocracy to further the construction of the Rogun Dam consists of three main objectives: getting visibility and international acceptance for the project, mobilising international funds, and creating a Rogun ideology at the domestic level. Consequently, these three factors led the hydrocracy to adopt two distinct discourses, one for the domestic and one for a foreign audience (see also Menga, 2016). While the former presents the dam as a vital achievement for the country, as a symbol of national pride, honour, progress, and prosperity, the latter focuses on presenting Tajikistan to the international community as a responsible water user that should be allowed – and possibly, receive financial support – to exercise its right of building a dam, which will be operated for the mutual benefit of all the countries in the region to produce clean energy. The Tajik discourse includes the two main justifications held by dam proponents during the twentieth century: the “big-dams-are-development” argument is indeed sided by the cause of hydropower as a clean and renewable energy that contributes to reduce climate change (Khagram, 2004). The project is framed in such a way that legitimises Tajikistan’s right to build it, portraying it as a key for the prosperity of the country and as a symbolic, cooperative regional project.

Overall, the Tajik counter-hegemonic strategy is formed by four main tactics, which all challenge the status quo advocating for the construction of the Rogun Dam: (i) internal support; (ii) mobilisation of financial resources; (iii) international support; and (iv) knowledge construction (see Figure 4.

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