{"word_count": 1306, "character_count": 9528}
The Journal of Power Institutions inPost-Soviet Societies #6, June 2007An electronic journal of socialscienceswww.pipss.orgCALL FOR CONTRIBUTORS: “DefenceReform in Central Asia”Pipss.org is a new electronic journalof social sciences devoted to the armed forces and power institutionsof post-Soviet societies. Pipss.org is a multi-disciplinary journal,which addresses issues across a broad field of disciplines includingsociology, anthropology, political science, psychology, economics,history, legal science. Its main objective is to study changes andtheir underlying mechanisms in post-Soviet republics, through theanalysis of the institutions that remain most hidden from the publiceye: armies and power institutions. As an electronic journal,pipss.org also aims to promote scholarly debate across as broad anaudience as possible, and make CIS research available to Westernscholars. Thanks to its international scientific board drawn from alarge pool of leading academics and experts in their respectivefields, it is in a position to become a leading source of analysis onpost-Soviet societies. Pipss.org is a principal partner of theInternational Security Network and a member of the CNRS/EHESSscientific journal network Revues.org.SIXTH ISSUE:After the collapse of the Soviet Union,the Central Asian Republics found themselves bound to build their ownnational armies and more recently, because of the changing securityenvironment, they were compelled to new military reforms.A lot has been written on Central Asianmilitary reform and the influence of the West, but very little isknown about those men who leads the Central Asian armies, about thebodies in charge of the defence implementation…. Who are theCentral Asian officers today. What do they read, what do they have inmind? How do they position themselves in the struggle between Sovietheritage, western influence and Central Asian heritage ? Thesequestions (among others) remain unanswered. That is why the issue editors of volume6 would like to invite sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists,political scientists, military analysts etc…to submit their papersfor publication in a special issue on “Defence Reform in CentralAsia”. This volume aims to cover (but does notto limit itself to) the following issues : 1 - The Soviet heritage- the endurance of military networksbelonging to the Soviet period- dedovshchina in Central AsianArmies- The image of Soviet armed forces inCentral Asian societies2 - Building the new national soldierA - the role of national epic heroes inbuilding the national soldier - Is Central Asian military ethosfundamentally different from Soviet and (post-Soviet) Russianmilitary culture?- What role do national epic heroesplay in the building of the national soldier in Central Asian armies? “The training [of the army] isbased on the Seven Commandments of Manas (the Kyrgyz national epicpoem). Even though it is true that these commandments only resemblemodern values nevertheless they have practically replacedConstitutional values. These commandments have been already includedin the military pledge. Such is the present situation in the Kyrgyzarmed forces. What we have is a crisis of values in the ideologicaland educational work of the military institution and as a result thedemocratic values enshrined in the Constitution are replaced by thearchaic values of a medieval epic”. Source: Bakyt Kakchekeyev in “TheKyrgyz Republic. Is Desertion a National Tradition?”, in F. Daucé&#38; E. Sieca-Kozlowski (Eds), Dedovshchina in the Post-SovietMilitary. Hazing of Russian Army Conscript in a ComparativePerspective, Ibidem-Verlag, 2006, p. 179.B - The Central Asian officer: asociological portrait- The renewal of military elites, theirsociological composition, the changes in recruitment and evaluationsystems and in career profiles.- Changes in the ethnic composition ofthe armed forces of the Central Asia Republics due to the massivedeparture of Russian officers (who returned mainly to Russia and theUkraine).- Professional military staffpreparation and training : the training of a specialist corps whosemembers are recruited among a population with a low level ofinstruction, and which was not allowed to occupy positions ofresponsibility during the Soviet regime.- The difficult interaction of Russianofficers with local officers due to language problems affecting thechain of command.- Military personnel’s wives / Womenin the military in Central Asian societies.3 – Military/society relations- The role of solidarities andloyalties in Central Asian armies: minorities in the military;kinship networks in the military. - The action of military elites aslobby groups and the perceptions they generate. Are these elites nomore than interest group(s) competing with others for the ownershipand use of resources, power, etc… or does their state function(defense, public order) confer upon them a specific role and modusoperandi?- How the contradictions affectingCentral Asian societies (tribal and clan divisions, ethnic tension,regional disparities, urban-rural differences, social inequalitiesetc) affects the national armies ?- The Central Asian armies in Centralasian public opinion.4 - Central Asian defence reform anddefence strategyA – Military reform - Implementation of state measures,military reform: the bodies in charge.- Military reform and structuralchanges: how military reforms have affected Soviet-style regimentalstructures- Central Asian military legislationand military justiceB – Defense strategy and territorialdivision- What are the actors in charge ofbuilding and maintaining national security structures andinfrastructure in the different Republics of Central Asia ?- What are their current role andmission ?- Are they wholly independent of theirnational centres or symbiotically related to a variety of regional,local or national actors ?- Territorial division and securitypolicy in Central Asian Republics: assessing the impact of theregions’ (districts) contribution to national security policies- Non state security actors operatingin the regions (the role of local militias)- Non governemental actors andassistance to the military ? Evaluation/ratio of public, private andforeign contributions to the military- Corruption and regional securityC – Other security forcesVery often literature on Post-Sovietarmed forces fails to cover police forces and security services.Therefore the issue editors would like to assess the role and theimportance given to other security forces (Interior troops, bordertroops, security services…) in Central Asian Republics. Are CentralAsian Republics following the Russian model ? Have military reformsbeen severly limited by the role given to these forces as they havein post-Soviet Russia ? Or have Central Asian Republics escaped thisphenomenon ? Are their any linkage between defence reform andsecurity sector reform ? 5 - What Russia and the West can learnfrom Central Asian armies. The issue editors welcome studies oforiginal experiences conducted in Central Asian countries such as thecreation of “army unit councils” in Uzbekistan (these councils offive - seven people are formed at general meetings of privates andsergeants by open ballot for a one-year term and aim to help “forminga healthy spiritual and moral atmosphere in military communities”),or of a similar body in Kyrgyzstan: the “garrison public council”.Could Russia learn from these experiences and specificities(Uzbekistan broke new ground when a civilian was appointed defenceminister) ?What about the West ? One cannot helpbut look or even hope for a specificity in Central Asian countries asan alternative to modernity.--------Papers dealing with other issuesrelated to armies and power institutions in the CIS, as well as bookreview proposals are also welcome.REVIEWSPublishers interested in publicizingtheir editions, please send review copies to:Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski15 rue Charlot75003 Paris, FranceGuidelines for article submission The journal will be published in fourlanguages (French, English, Russian, and German with a 100-wordabstract in English) thanks to which most authors will be able towrite in their mother tongue. This will ensure greater precision inthe articles and avoid a decrease in scientific quality. But we drawyour attention to the fact that most pipss.org readers areessentially English speakers, therefore we do encourage articles inEnglish in order to reach an audience as broad as possible.The articles submitted to pipss.orgfor publication should be original contributions and should not beunder consideration for any other publication at the same time.Manuscripts should be attached as Microsoft Word format. Referencesshould be given in footnotes. (For more details about the guidelinesfor article submission please check www.pipss.orgor contact the Editorial Board). There should be a cover page statingthe author's background and affiliation, full address. If you wish to submit an article,please first contact the editorial board and send an 100-wordabstract in English. The deadline for article submission is March 10,2007, with publication in June. Final decisions on publication willbe made by the Editorial Board.Please send your contributions orinquiries to:Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski, ChiefEditor, contact@pipss.org Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski (6th IssueEditor)Roger McDermott (6th Issue Editor)Editorial Board : Eden Cole, FrancoiseDauce, Gilles Favarel-Garrigues, Anna Colin Lebedev, Anne Le Huerou,Elisabeth Sieca-Kozlowski, Joris Van Bladel