POST-SOVIET ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE: INSTITUTIONAL GAPS AND POLICY FAILURES IN CENTRAL ASIA

The dissolution of the Soviet Union marked a critical turning point in environmental governance across Central Asia. This paper examines how post Soviet institutional fragmentation, weak regulatory frameworks, and uneven policy transitions have contributed to persistent environmental degradation in Central Asia. The region - situated between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya river basins and bordered by the Caspian Sea and the shrinking Aral Sea - possesses abundant yet unevenly distributed natural resources, including hydrocarbons, minerals, and glacial freshwater reserves. However, water has emerged as the most conflict-prone and strategically significant resource. Soviet-era ecological exploitation, particularly unsustainable irrigation and monoculture practices, laid the foundation for contemporary crises. In the post-independence period, institutional gaps, limited regional coordination, and governance deficits have hindered effective environmental protection and climate adaptation. Climatechange intensifies these vulnerabilities through glacier retreat, desertification, declining agricultural productivity, and worsening public health outcomes. The pollution of the Caspian Sea and the near-collapse of the Aral Sea exemplify policy failures and weak enforcement mechanisms. This study argues that environmental degradation in Central Asia is not merely an ecological issue but a multidimensional security challenge shaped by governance weaknesses and fragmented regional cooperation. By analyzing institutional structures, policy implementation gaps, and regional dynamics, the paper situates Central Asia within broader debates on environmental security and post socialist governance transitions, offering pathways toward integrated and resilient environmental governance.