A new paper by Ahlidin Malikov and Wojciech Ostrowski
A new study by Dr Ahlidin Malikov (Westminster International University in Tashkent) and Dr Wojciech Ostrowski (University of Westminster) makes a substantial contribution to two major debates in contemporary political economy: rentierism and regional cooperation — in Central Asia and beyond.
Published in Europe-Asia Studies, their article, “Energy Rents, Remittances and Regional Trade Cooperation in Central Asia,” offers a nuanced and empirically grounded analysis of how the political economy of rents shapes the prospects for regional connectivity.
Rents, Remittances, and the Regional Puzzle
The article demonstrates that in a region dominated by energy rents, the most likely engine for trade cooperation will be a state, or a group of states, that are not fully part of the rentier economy or sit outside the political and economic order that rentierism produces.
Energy-rich countries may engage with the process of regional connectivity and even make it an element of their foreign policy; however, their long-term commitment is limited by the relatively few economic and political benefits that regional trade brings them. Markets for their resources lie outside the region, and key strategic alliances are often formed with external powers.
By contrast, resource-poor countries remain dependent on resource-rich neighbours, their fortunes tied indirectly to global commodity prices. Remittances earned by their citizens working abroad may buy social peace and sustain regimes, but they do little to foster productive development or regional cooperation.
All these factors explain why regional cooperation in regions dominated by resource-exporting states is inherently complex and often fragile.