Politics of Military Base Hosting in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan

Abstract

In 2012, the governments of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan signed bilateral agreements with Russia extending the presence of Russian military bases in Tajikistan until 2042 and in Kyrgyzstan until 2032. Following the visits of the Russian President and Foreign Minister to Kyrgyzstan in 2019, the possibility of the deployment of another Russian base in the south of the country and expansion of the territory of existing Russian military facilities have caused a huge public outcry concerning the sovereignty. These events have promoted regular discussions among representatives of public officials, academics, and media about the regaining of the leading geopolitical role by Russia in Central Asia and about sovereignty of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. However, these issues are understudied by scholars from the perspective of host states. Hence, to contribute to the scholarly works from the latter perspective, this thesis examines the question of how governments of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan justify the hosting of Russian military bases to their respective citizenries. The case studies of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are analyzed and explored comparatively through content and discourse analysis of government official statements, speeches, interviews and bilateral agreements on military base presence. The results of this study reveal that governments of both countries justify the Russian military base hosting through security issues as threats from Afghanistan and terrorism, alliance orientation within the CSTO and by seeking generous quid pro quo rewards. Comparative analysis, in this regard, shows that there is a different level of pressure on governments of two countries in the hosting of Russian bases associated with regime differences and diverse physical and functional parameters of Russian military bases.