chapter 6

russia / central asia

BRICs

acronym for the 4 biggest emerging national markets in the world today

• Brazil, Russia, India, China

command economy

The tightly controlled economic system of the former Soviet Union, whereby central planners in Moscow assigned the production of particular goods to particular places, often guided more by socialist ideology than the principles of economic geography.

distance decay

The various degenerative effects of distance on human spatial structures and interactions.

forward capital

Capital city positioned in actually or potentially contested territory, usually near an international border; it confirms the state’s determination to maintain its presence in the area of contention.

geopolitical revanchism

Mackinder’s heartland theory

near abroad

The 14 former Soviet republics that, in combination with the dominant Russian Republic, constituted the USSR.

• Since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, Russia has asserted a sphere of influence in these now-independent countries, based on its proclaimed right to protect the interests of ethnic Russians who were settled there in substantial numbers during Soviet times.

• These 14 countries include Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.

new silk road

northeast passage

The high-latitude sea route of the Arctic Ocean that follows the entire north coast of Eurasia from northern Norway in the west to the northeasternmost corner of Russia where it meets the Bering Strait. Increased seasonal melting of the Arctic ice cap in recent years has begun to open up this waterway as a summer route for shipping between Europe and East Asia.

permafrost

Permanently frozen water in the near-surface soil and bedrock of cold environments, producing the effect of completely frozen ground. Surface can thaw during brief warm season.

population implosion

The opposite of population explosion; refers to the declining populations of many European countries and Russia in which the death rate exceeds the birth rate and immigration rate.

russification

Demographic resettlement policies pursued by the central planners of the Soviet Empire (1922–1991), whereby ethnic Russians were encouraged to emigrate from the Russian Republic to the 14 non-Russian republics of the USSR.

spykman’s rimland theory

taiga

The subarctic, mostly coniferous snowforest that blankets northern Russia and Canada south of the tundra that lines the Arctic shore. Known as the boreal forest in North America.

tundra

The treeless plain that lies along the Arctic shore in northernmost Russia and Canada, whose vegetation consists of mosses, lichens, and certain hardy grasses.

unitary state system

A nation-state that has a centralized government and administration that exercises power equally over all parts of the state.