text:
Noor A
Najmi M H
Bukhtiar S
guinea pig trachea
» Abstract
» Materials and Me...
» Discussion
» Acknowledgment
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Effect of Montelukast on bradykinin-induced contraction of isolated tracheal smooth muscle of guinea pig
A Noor1, MH Najmi2, S Bukhtiar2
1 Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Army Medical College, National Institute of Science and Technology, Rawalpindi; Department of Pharmacology, Islamic International Medical College, Pakistan
2 Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Army Medical College, National Institute of Science and Technology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Date of Decision 15-Apr-2011
Date of Acceptance 25-Apr-2011
Date of Web Publication 22-Jul-2011
A Noor
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Army Medical College, National Institute of Science and Technology, Rawalpindi; Department of Pharmacology, Islamic International Medical College
Aim: To explore the effect of montelukast on bradykinin-induced tracheal smooth muscle contraction of isolated guinea pig trachea.
Study Design: To study the effect of bradykinin in the absence and in the presence of montelukast on the isolated tracheal smooth muscle of a guinea pig pretreated with indomethacin (10 -6 M), phentolamine (10 -5 M), and propranalol (10 -6 M), to eliminate the effect of endogenous prostaglandins and catecholamines. The trachealis smooth muscle activity was recorded through the Isometric Force Displacement Transducer on a Four Channel Oscillograph. A cumulative dose-response relationship was demonstrated by adding successive doses of bradykinin on the tracheal strips, starting with 11 μg to 77 μg of 10 -4 concentration. A similar procedure was repeated in the presence of montelukast 0.5 μg/ml, which, was equal to approximate C max achieved in vivo with a 10 mg oral dose of montelukast, and in the presence of 1 μg/ml of montelukast.
Statistical Analysis: Data was expressed as mean ± standard error (SEM), and was analyzed using the SPSS version 15. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
Results: Bradykinin produced a dose-dependent, reversible contraction of isolated tracheal smooth muscle. Montelukast significantly reduced the bradykinin-induced tracheal smooth muscle reactivity and shifted the bradykinin curve to the right and downwards, in the presence of both concentrations of montelukast. The mean magnitude of response achieved with 77 μg of bradykinin in the absence of montelukast was 39 mm ± 6.26, in the presence of 0.5 μg/ml of montelukast it was 24.17 mm ± 4.11, and in the presence of 1 μg/ml of montelukast it was 13 mm ± 2.6.
Conclusion: It is concluded that montelukast significantly inhibits, in a dose-dependent manner, the bradykinin-induced contraction of the guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle, and alludes to an interaction between the bradykinin and leukotriene mediators.
Keywords: ACE inhibitors, bradykinin, cough, guinea pig trachea, montelukast
Noor A, Najmi M H, Bukhtiar S. Effect of Montelukast on bradykinin-induced contraction of isolated tracheal smooth muscle of guinea pig. Indian J Pharmacol 2011;43:445-9
Noor A, Najmi M H, Bukhtiar S. Effect of Montelukast on bradykinin-induced contraction of isolated tracheal smooth muscle of guinea pig. Indian J Pharmacol [serial online] 2011 [cited 2023 Jan 31];43:445-9. Available from: https://www.ijp-online.com/text.asp?2011/43/4/445/83119
Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have been used commonly for the pharmacological treatment of hypertension, congestive cardiac failure, and diabetic nephropathy. [1] However, their use has been associated with respiratory adverse effects like cough, bronchoconstriction, and increased microvascular leakage. [2] Respiratory adverse effects associated with ACE inhibitor therapy are related to the accumulation of bradykinin and substance P in the airways, normally degraded by ACE, resulting in the enhanced sensitivity of cough reflex and reactivity of airway smooth muscle. [3] Bronchial C fiber stimulation by bradykinin releases a number of neuropeptides, substance P, and neurokinin A via axon reflexes, which are the chemical mediators of the cough reflex. [4] Another mechanism involved in the pathogenesis of ACE inhibitor-induced cough is the stimulation of Phospholipase A 2 and the arachidonic acid (AA) pathway, by bradykinin, which results in the increased formation of prostaglandins and leukotrienes. [5] Bradykinin, a potent vasoactive nonapeptide and a classic mediator of inflammatory diseases like asthma, produces bronchoconstriction in asthmatic individuals as well as, when administered to experimental animals. [6] In spite of the well-documented bronchoconstrictor effect of bradykinin both in vivo as well as in vitro, the exact mechanism underlying this effect is still debated. It has been shown by different studies that tachykinins and AA metabolites are likely to be involved in the bronchoconstrictor effect of bradykinin. In vitro studies have shown the release of lipoxygenase metabolites from human lung fibroblasts and rat lung tissues. [7] Furthermore, a clinical study done on asthmatic subjects has shown an inhibitory effect of montelukast, a selective LTD 4 antagonist, on bradykinin-induced airway hyperresponsiveness. [8] These observations support an interaction between bradykinin and leukotriene mediators. Keeping in view the fact that bradykinin-induced smooth muscle contraction is attributed in part to the production and release of LTD 4 by the airway cells; the proposed study aims to explore the effect of montelukast on bradykinin-induced tracheal smooth muscle contraction in isolated guinea pig trachea. This will help find and evaluate the usefulness of montelukast in the prevention of the bradykinin-induced respiratory adverse effects encountered during ACE inhibitor therapy.
» Materials and Methods
Chemicals used in the study include bradykinin acetate, phentolamine hydrochloride, montelukast sodium, indomethacin acetate, and propranalol hydrochloride. Solutions and dilutions of all drugs were prepared in the redistilled water, except indomethacin, which was dissolved in ethanol as it was insoluble in water.
Experiments performed were compiled with the rulings of the Institute of Laboratory Animal Resources Commission on Life Sciences National Research Council, and were approved by the PCGS committee for research, the National University of Science and Technology Islamabad Pakistan (NUST). Guinea pigs of either sex, of the Dunkin Hartley variety (500 to 600g) were housed at the animal house of the Army Medical College, Rawalpindi, NUST University, at room temperature. They were given tap water ad libitum and a standard diet for rodents. The guinea pigs were killed by cervical dislocation. The tracheal tube was cut into rings 2-3 mm wide, each containing about two cartilages. Each ring was then opened by a longitudinal cut, forming a tracheal chain with the smooth muscle in the center and the cartilaginous portion on the edges. The tissue preparation was then mounted on an isolated tissue bath of 50 ml capacity, at 37°C, containing Kreb's Henseleit solution, with the following composition per 1000 ml: NaCl, 118.2 mM; KCl, 4.7 mM; MgSO 4 .7H 2 O, 1.2 mM; CaCl 2, 2.5mM; KH 2 PO 4, 1.3mM; NaHCO 3, 25mM; Dextrose, 11.7mM. This was aerated with oxygen continuously. The tissue was allowed a period of equilibration of 45 minutes against an imposed tension of two grams. A tension of one gram was applied to the tracheal strips continuously, throughout the experiments. The trachealis muscle activity was measured with an Isometric Force Displacement transducer (Harvard model no 72-4494) and was recorded on a Four Channel Oscillograph (Harvard model no 50-9307). After the equilibration period, the tracheal muscle preparation was incubated for 15 minutes with indomethacin (10 -6 M), phentolamine (10 -5 M), and propranalol (10 -6 M), to eliminate the effect of the endogenous prostaglandins and catecholamines. [9] These drugs were added simultaneously in all the experiments and after 15 minutes, the experiments were started with this preparation.
Dose Response Curve of Bradykinin in the Absence of Montelukast
After the pre-incubation period with the baseline tension was adjusted to 1 gram, a cumulative dose response curve of bradykinin was obtained, using bradykinin of concentration 10 -4 M in successive doses of 11, 22, 33, 44, 55, 66, and 77 μg. When the plateau was achieved with the first dose of bradykinin, then the subsequent dose was added to the tissue bath, without washing the previous dose.
Dose Response Curve of Bradykinin in the Presence of Montelukast 0.5 μg/Ml
The cumulative dose response curve of bradykinin was obtained using the same doses of bradykinin as in the previous experiments, in the presence of montelukast sodium 0.5 μg/ml, a concentration matching to peak the plasma concentration (C max ) achieved in adult patients, with a therapeutic dose of montelukast 10 mg orally. [10]
The bradykinin dose response curve achieved with 77 μg in the presence of montelukast 0.5 μg/ml was inhibited by 38 percent; therefore, the next group of experiments was performed in the presence of higher dose of montelukast, 1 μg/ml, a concentration double the value of C max achieved in adult patients, with a therapeutic dose of montelukast 10 mg orally. The cumulative dose response curve of bradykinin was obtained using the same doses of bradykinin as in the previous experiments. Six experiments were performed in the same manner to get six recordings in all the three groups.
Observations of Individual Groups
Control group 1
Bradykinin produced a dose-dependent contraction of the guinea pig tracheal strips in the absence of montelukast pretreated with indomethacin, propranalol, and phentolamine. The effect started at the dose of 11 μg of 10 -4 concentration of bradykinin and reached its maximum effect at 77 μg, with a mean magnitude of response of 39 ± 6.26 mm [Table 1]. The semi logarithm dose response curve of bradykinin was plotted with log doses on the x--axis and percent responses on the y-axis, as is shown in [Figure 1].
Figure 1: Cumulative log dose response curve for bradykinininduced contractions of guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle in the absence of montelukast, pretreated with indomethacin, propranalol, and phentolamine. Each point is the mean and ± SEM of at least six experiments
Table 1: Group I (bradykinin-induced contractions of the guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle). Magnitude of responses are expressed as mean ± S.E.M. Percent responses were calculated with all doses of bradykinin, taking the response with 77 μgm of bradykinin as 100%
Group II
In a series of six experiments performed on the tracheal tissue in the presence of 0.5 μg/ml montelukast, pretreated with indomethacin, propranalol, and phentolamine, there was no response on the first dose of bradykinin and only a minimal response -on the second dose. The mean magnitude of response at 77 μg of bradykinin was 24.17 ± 4.11 mm, respectively, causing an inhibition of 32 percent [Table 2].The bradykinin curve in the presence of 0.5 μg/ml of montelukast, shifted to the right and downward [Figure 2]. The deviation started with the first dose of bradykinin and continued in the entire extent of the curve.
Figure 2: Cumulative log dose response curve for bradykinin-induced contractions of tracheal smooth muscle in the absence and presence of montelukast 0.5 μg/ml, and montelukast 1 μg/ml, pretreated with indomethacin, propranalol, and phentolamine
Table 2: Group II (bradykinin-induced contractions of the guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle in the presence of montelukast 0.5 μg/ml). Magnitude of responses are expressed as mean ± SEM. Percent responses were calculated with all doses of bradykinin, taking response with 77 μgm of bradykinin of group 1 as 100%
Group III
In a series of six experiments performed on the tracheal tissues in the presence of montelukast 1 μg/ml, pretreated with indomethacin, propranalol and phentolamine, there was no response of the tracheal tissue on the first and second doses of bradykinin, and only a minimal response on the third dose of bradykinin. The mean magnitude of response for 77 g of bradykinin was 13 ± 2.6 mm [Table 3]. The semi logarithm dose response curve of bradykinin on tracheal smooth muscle pretreated with montelukast 1 μg/ml, shifted markedly to the right and downward [Figure 3]. The deviation started with the first dose of bradykinin and continued in the entire extent of the curve, even at the higher doses.
Figure 3: Bar diagram showing comparison of percent deviation of Group I and Group II (Percent deviation a), percent deviation of Group I and Group III (Percent deviation b), and Group II and III (Percent deviation c) Each point is the mean and ± SEM of at least six experiments
Table 3: Group III (Bradykinin-induced contractions of the guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle in the presence of montelukast 1μg/milliliters). Magnitude of responses are expressed as mean ± S.E.M. Percent responses were calculated with all doses of bradykinin taking response with 77μgmof bradykinin of group 1 as 100%
Comparative Observations of Groups
The mean magnitude of responses produced by each dose of bradykinin when compared between Group I and Group II, Group I and Group III, and Group II and Group III, were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). Percent responses calculated at each dose of bradykinin when compared between Group I and II, Group I and III, and Group II and III were found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05). Percent deviations were calculated for each dose of bradykinin used in Group I and Group II (Percent deviation A) with a mean deviation of 68.1% ± 9.8. Percent deviation calculated for each dose of bradykinin used in Group I and III (Percent deviation B) with mean deviation of 89.63% ± 5.52. Percent deviation calculated for each dose of bradykinin used in Group II and III (Percent deviation C) with mean deviation of 80.71% ± 6.65.
The difference of Percent deviations was found to be statistically significant (P < 0.05) between the groups, that is, Percent deviation A with Percent deviation B and C and Percent deviation B with Percent deviation C.
In the present study, the dose-dependent reversible contractile effect of bradykinin on the guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle, pretreated with indomethacin, propranalol, and phentolamine started at a dose of 11 μg of bradykinin and reached its maximum at 77 μg. Dusser et al., have also reported similar effects of bradykinin on isolated ferret trachea at the concentration range of 10 -11 M to 10 -5 M. [11] Previous studies have shown bradykinin-induced relaxation of the guinea pig tracheal muscle with intact epithelium, and this response changed to contraction upon removal of the epithelium. [12] A combination of indomethacin and phosphoramidon mimics the effect of epithelium removal by blocking the effect of endogenous prostaglandins and inhibiting the neutral endopeptidase, an enzyme responsible for bradykinin metabolism. [13] In the present study pre-incubation of guinea pig tracheal smooth muscle, having an intact epithelium, with indomethacin, propranalol, and phentolamine mimicked the effect of epithelium removal.
Bradykinin activates nociceptive bronchopulmonary C fibers, which may mediate cough and chest tightness, the characteristic features of asthma. [14] Bradykinin directly activates the guinea pig tracheal afferent neurons via B 2 receptors. [15]
Observations have also been made regarding the effects of bradykinin on the guinea pig tracheal strips pretreated with indomethacin, propranalol, and phentolamine in the presence of two different doses of montelukast. Results of one set of experiments in the presence of 0.5 μg/ml of montelukast, demonstrate that there is significant inhibition (38%) of bradykinin contraction and marked shifting of the bradykinin curve to the right and downwards. In the presence of 1 μg/ml of montelukast, there is 67% inhibition and a marked shifting of bradykinin dose response curve to the right and downward. The deviation started with the first dose of bradykinin and continued in the entire extent of the curve. Results of the present study reveal that leukotrienes mediate a substantial portion of bradykinin-induced tracheal smooth muscle contraction, as is evident from the inhibitory effect of montelukast. Similar results have been reported by Crimi et al., in a clinical study on asthmatics, showing a significant inhibitory effect of two tablets of 10 mg of montelukast (double the value of the therapeutic dose of montelukast in adults) against bradykinin-induced bronchoconstriction. [8] It was hypothesized that bradykinin-induced bronchoconstriction was either directly or indirectly mediated by the release of leukotrienes, although there was a failure to demonstrate a significant increase in urinary LTE 4 levels, two hours after the bradykinin challenge.
Furthermore, it was hypothesized that bradykinin could up regulate the signal transduction pathway of leukotriene receptors, and this was the possible reason for the lack of increase in urinary LTE 4 levels after the bradykinin challenge. It was the first study that had shown the significant inhibitory effect of montelukast against inhaled bradykinin. Results of the present study confirm the findings of this in vivo study, and the higher concentration used in our study in vitro, resembles the C max , which was produced by the dose of montelukast used by Crimi et al. [8]
Turner et al., has shown in ventilated Hartley guinea pigs, that bradykinin-induced bronchoconstriction was significantly reduced in the presence of a neurokinin antagonist and was partially inhibited in the presence of a selective LTD 4 receptor antagonist Pranlukast. [16] The results of this study are in accordance with those of the current study, with regard to the inhibitory effect of the leukotriene receptor antagonist. Likewise, Sayah et al., have reported that the bradykinin-induced contraction of the pig iris smooth muscle involves the release of prostanoids and LTD 4 from the AA pathway. [17] Lindstrom et al., has shown an increased outflow of tachykinins from the sensory nerve endings on allergen-induced bradykinin stimulation. [18]
The illustrated antitussive effect of zafirlukast in cough-variant asthma is presumably through its anti-inflammatory action. [19] Bisgaard et al., reported the beneficial effect of montelukast, in the viral precipitated attack of childhood asthma exacerbation in two-to-five-year-old children. This effect of montelukast can also be related to its ability to inhibit the tachykinin-and bradykinin-induced bronchoconstriction, as viral infections trigger the bradykinin and tachykinin generation. [20]
The results of the present study imply the underlying mechanism in the protection afforded by montelukast against the bradykinin-induced bronchoconstriction and support the idea of an interaction between the bradykinin, tachykinin, and leukotriene mediators in the animal model of isolated guinea pig trachea. Montelukast competitively antagonized the LTD 4 -induced contraction of the tracheal smooth muscle of guinea pig in vitro. Leukotrienes never exist preformed in the cells; rather they are formed from the breakdown of the AA attached to the phospholipids of the cell membranes. Immunological and various non-immunological stimuli including bradykinin can release AA from the membrane phospholipids by activating phopholipase A2. [21]
A recent study has recognized the capacity of montelukast that it directly and selectively inhibits 5-Lipoxygenase, limiting the generation of CysLT. [22] Keeping in view, the fact that bradykinin-induced contraction might be mediated indirectly by the release of leukotriene mediators, it can be speculated that the inhibitory effects of montelukast against the bradykinin-induced contractions might be the result of its ability to block the receptors or to cause selective inhibition of the 5-lipoxygenase enzyme. Furthermore, it is supposed that our findings about the inhibitory effect of montelukast might have a clinical relevance, considering the importance of bradykinin as a local mediator involved in a number of airway responses to different stimuli, particularly the cough and bronchospasm encountered during ACE-inhibitor therapy. In patients with sensitive airway diseases or with decreased pulmonary functions, cough has been the serious adverse reaction to ACE inhibitors. Management of ACE inhibitor-induced respiratory adverse effects is being aimed at by a number of clinical trials and experimental studies. This inhibitory effect of montelukast against bradykinin-induced contraction may open a new area of research with regard to the management of bradykinin-induced respiratory adverse effects encountered during ACE inhibitor therapy. As leukotriene receptor antagonists have been seen to be useful in the management of cough in patients with cough-variant asthma, the effective role of montelukast in the management of bradykinin-induced cough with ACE inhibitor therapy is suggested.
In conclusion, the significant inhibitory effect of montelukast against bradykinin-induced tracheal smooth muscle contraction has been explored in the present study and supports an interaction between bradykinin and leukotriene mediators. Further studies should explore and elucidate the exact mechanism underlying this inhibitory effect of montelukast. Simultaneous multicenter clinical trials in human subjects facing respiratory adverse effects during ACE inhibitor therapy could also be an option to find the role of leukotriene receptor antagonists in the prevention of these adverse effects.
We are grateful to Mr. Tauseef Ahmed for the technical assistance he provided throughout the research study and to Dr. Abdul Hannan for his assistance in conducting the statistical analyses of the present study.
NUST University Pakistan has provided financial support for this research study.
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[Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3]
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Enterprise Routers Market
Enterprise Routers Market Research Report - Segmen . . . .
Pulished Date March, 2021
Enterprise Routers Market Research Report - Segmented By Connectivity type (Cabling and Without strings), By Port type (Fixed port, Modular), By Type (Main routers, Multi-service advantage, Access router, Other types), By End User Vertical (BFSI, IT and Telecom, Health care, Retail sale, Manufacturing, and Other end-user verticals) - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact, And Forecasts (2021 - 2026)
Pulished: March, 2021
Enterprise Routers Market Size & Growth Analysis
The enterprise routers market to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% over the forecast period from 2021 to 2026. The industry is expected to experience growth due to ongoing technological innovations in wireless LAN technology and high-speed Ethernet switches. This technology leads to the development of smaller and more efficient chipsets and modules with additional functions. The growing need for high-speed Ethernet switch deployment is expected to provide new avenues for growth over the next eight years.
Organizations are reorganizing their networks with a focus on improving business efficiency and responsiveness, mobile productivity, and leveraging big data.
The market is migrating from a single vendor environment to one where discrete decision for different network building blocks are quickly becoming the norm. For network architects, this is a new approach that should lead to network solutions that meet business requirements and save money without adding operational complexity.
COVID impact on Enterprise Routers Market
In a situation where many employees are currently working from home due to a COVID-19 pandemic or accessing working Wi-Fi networks at the corporate security level, devices such as routers can be hacked to implant various malicious software on portable devices used by employees. Subex has been tracking trends in cyber attacks and malware activity that may be correlated with the outbreak. The enterprise routers market shares are projected to grow at a higher rate in 2021.
Recent Developments:
In March 2020: Huawei has confirmed that its next-generation NetEngine AR600 and AR6000 enterprise routers have passed the verification test from the Tolly Group, which is an approved international testing and validation provider. The results showed that Huawei's NetEngine AR routers are equipped to handle the growth of digital transformation traffic over the next three to five years, ushering in a new era of ultra-fast interconnect for enterprise WANs.
In December 2019 - Q100 processor based on Cisco Silicon One and 8000 series routers. Cisco will allow ecosystem actors to separately purchase processors, XR7 router software, 8000 series routers without software, modules optical (QSFP -DD and QSFP28), or 8000 series integrated solution. The 8000 series router and Q100 processor are intended for service providers and data center operators ranging from large aggregations to basic applications.
In 2015, HP announced the acquisition of Aruba Networks. This acquisition further strengthens HP's positioning to accelerate and enable the business transition to a converged campus network.
Market growth and trends:
Wireless connectivity is expected to hold a significant share that is expected to level up the shares of the enterprise routers market.
An ordinary wireless router only supports access for about 10 to 20 users. In contrast, the wireless access router point allows access to more than 50 or even hundreds of users, with the potential ability to send and receive signals. According to Cisco, the expected penetration of business Internet traffic over a fixed wireless connection in 2021 will be 125,988 petabytes per month. With the increase in internet and device traffic, the average fixed broadband speed, as well as average internet users, will increase exponentially during the forecast period. The average speed of fixed broadband is expected to increase from 5.1 Mbps in 2015 to 12.9 Mbps in 2020.
For example, Cradlepoint launched the industry's first 5G-optimized wireless WAN edge router for enterprise branch deployments in May 2020. The Cradlepoint E3000 series, according to the company, optimizes investment in performance and protection and enables customers to implement a wireless network (wireless WAN) using the latest LTE and Wi-Fi technologies and seamlessly to upgrade to 5G in the future. The COVID-19 pandemic has fueled an already growing demand for agile and rapidly deployable LTE-based wireless WANs for backbone connectivity. Cradlepoint said in the statement that the E3000 series is intended to directly target this market.
Normally, the signal transmission range of a wireless router can only cover tens of meters. A wireless access router includes additional distances, up to 100-300 meters, allowing users to move freely within the network. Especially for businesses, office space is often more important, and some even need to communicate across buildings. The number of users accessing the network is so large that they need more network coverage from the wireless router. Also, the network model of the wireless router is quite unique, with little flexibility. In contrast, a wireless access point offers a wide variety of modes such as simplex AP, wireless client, wireless bridge, multipoint bridge, etc. It can be managed centrally with cooperation.
Market Drivers and Limitations:
The strong development of the IT industry and the huge appetite for technologically advanced devices in the Chinese market are expected to drive the regional growth over the next seven years.
Increasing trends towards the adoption of the 802.11ac wireless standard are also expected to drive growth in the Asia-Pacific and Latin American regions.
Enterprise Routers Market - By Connectivity Type:
Without Strings
Enterprise Routers Market - By Port Type:
Enterprise Routers Market - By Type:
Main Routers
Multi-Service Advantage
Access Router
Enterprise Routers Market By End User Vertical:
Retail Sale
Other End-User verticals
Enterprise Routers Market Geographical Analysis
This global report is analyzed in the following regions:
North America is expected to have a significant share of the enterprise router market. Also, the region has a strong presence of network router providers. Some of them include Cisco Systems, Inc., Dell EMC, and Juniper Networks, Inc., among others, which are helping the market grow. It is estimated that through 2022, in the United States, the network router market will grow to USD 11.95 billion, which includes the market for Ethernet service edge router, multi-service edge router, service provider main router, and the router of Internet exchange (source Cisco), where expectations of strong market growth will potentially be carried over to an Internet exchange router in 2022.
Europe is positioned next in leading the dominant shares of the enterprise routers market. Growing funds from private organizations is one of the common factors leveraging the demand of the market. Asia Pacific is to have the fastest growth rate in the enterprise routers market with the growing number of IT companies.
Key market players:
The main players are Cisco Systems, Inc., Juniper Networks, Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise, etc., course by strategic objective.
1.2 Scope of the report
2.2.3 Data Modelling
3. Report Overview
3.2 Key Inferencees
4. Market Dynamics
4.1.2 Restaints
4.2 Regulatory Environment
4.3 Technology Timeline & Recent Trends
5. Competitor Benchmarking Analysis
5.1 Key Player Benchmarking
5.1.2 Products/Service
5.1.3 Regional Presence
5.2 Mergers & Acquistion Landscape
5.3 Joint Ventures & Collaborations
6.1 Enterprise Routers Market, By Connectivity type
6.1.1 Cabling
6.1.2 Without strings
6.1.3 Market Size Estimations & Forecasts (2021-2026)
6.1.4 Y-o-Y Growth Rate Analysis
6.2 Enterprise Routers Market, By Port type
6.2.1 Fixed port
6.2.2 Modular
6.3 Enterprise Routers Market, By Type
6.3.1 Main routers
6.3.2 Multi-service advantage,
6.3.3 Access router
6.4 Enterprise Routers Market, By End User Vertical
6.4.1 BFSI
6.4.2 IT and Telecom
6.4.3 Health care
6.4.4 Retail sale
6.4.5 Manufacturing
7. Geographical Landscape
7.1 Global Identity Governance and Administration Market, by Region
7.2 North America - Market Analysis (2018 - 2024)
7.2.1 By Country
7.2.1.1 USA
7.2.2 By Connectivity type
7.2.3 By Port type
7.2.5 By End User Vertical
7.3.1.1 UK
7.4.1.5 South East Asia
7.4.1.6 Australia & NZ
7.5.1.4 Rest of Latin America
7.6.1.2 Africa
8. Key Player Analysis
8.1 Cisco Systems, Inc.
8.1.1 Business Description
8.1.3 Financials
8.1.6 Analyst Overview
8.2 Juniper Networks, Inc.
8.3 Hewlett Packard Enterprise
9. Market Outlook & Investment Opportunities
Global, regional and country-level analysis and forecasts of the study market; providing Insights on the major countries/regions in which this industry is blooming and to also identify the regions that are still untapped
Segment-level analysis in terms of Connectivity Type, Port Type, Product Type, End-User along with market size forecasts and estimations to detect key areas of industry growth in detail
Identification of key drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges (DROC) in the market and their impact on shifting market dynamics
Study the microenvironment factors that determine the overall profitability of an Industry, using Porter's five forces analysis for analysing the level of competition and business strategy development
Expertly devised analyst overview along with Investment opportunities to provide both individuals and organizations a strong financial foothold in the market.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
More History June 30, 2019 by admin
History Of Thanksgiving Usa
Nintendo Switch was among the most-purchased items online on Thanksgiving Day and the overall top-selling video game product online for the Black Friday-Cyber Monday time period," Nintendo said in a.
Why Is Christopher Columbus So Famous Monday is Columbus Day, time to buy appliances on sale and contemplate other things that have nothing to do with Christopher Columbus. got close to what is now called the United States. So why does. Apr 8, 2019. Explore Christopher Columbus' Famous Sailing Ship Coming to Newburyport. Book your stay at the Essex Street Inn
Nov 22, 2018. However, for others, the celebration is deeply controversial – as Thanksgiving has a contentious history that goes far beyond when the first.
Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year! Traditional foods are a large part of Thanksgiving celebrations. Many families include the entire family in the food preparation. Traditional foods include turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce.
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States. Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the second Monday in October in Canada. By the fall of 1621 only half of the pilgrims, who had sailed on the Mayflower, survived. The survivors, thankful to be alive, decided to give a thanksgiving feast.
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States. Thanksgiving is held on the second Monday in October while in the U.S. it is held.
Nov 22, 2018. While Thanksgiving is one of the biggest events in the American calendar, for us Brits it's always been a little bit of a mystery. The most.
The Nov. 17 front-page article "At the border, a crawling caravan" and its accompanying photograph reminded me of history, when our ancestors. Who are we today to demand our borders be closed? If.
John Ross And Betsy Ross On a November night in 1773, 21-year-old Betsy eloped with John Ross. They ferried across the Delaware River to Hugg's Tavern and were married in New Jersey. Her wedding caused an irrevocable split. John and Betsy Ross were only married for two years before his death; they did not have any children. Betsy Ross went
May 17, 2015 · This is double the number of Turkeys that are eaten the following month, on Christmas Day. The average weight of the Thanksgiving turkey consumed in the USA is 16lbs. No Turkey Was Served at the First Thanksgiving. The next one of our Thanksgiving facts tells us a little more about the popularity of the turkey for Thanksgiving Dinner.
In many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its original. masking the long and bloody history of conflict between Native Americans and European settlers that resulted.
Our national holiday really stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest.
Nov 18, 2018. The Thanksgiving tradition goes much deeper than food and football, so explore fun Thanksgiving traditions and history with us!
In 1863, Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday of November as a national Day of Thanksgiving for the United States. American immigrants brought the customs and practices of the American Thanksgiving to Canada, beginning on April 5, 1872.
Thanksgiving is a holiday in the United States and Canada when people give thanks. It is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada it is celebrated on the second Monday of October. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday of November as a national Day of Thanksgiving for the United States.
Nov 20, 2017. The true story behind Thanksgiving is a bloody struggle that decimated. In the US, Thanksgiving is a time for family, parades, lots of delicious.
His proclamation on Oct. 3, 1789, designated the 26 th day of November for "public thanksgiving" to "Almighty God," acknowledging His "favor" in helping the people of the United States "establish.
. with your parents and senior loved ones about your family's health history. What you learn might surprise you. When we gather with family at Thanksgiving, it gives us the opportunity to discuss.
Oct 9, 2014. I freely admit that most of what I know about the U.S. celebration comes from. But as far as I know, the Canadian history of Thanksgiving has.
In the US, Thanksgiving is a time for family, parades, lots of delicious food, and, oftentimes, intense travel snarls. American schoolchildren are usually taught the tradition dates back to the pilgrims, English religious dissenters who helped to establish the Plymouth Colony in present-day Massachusetts in 1620.
Nov 22, 2012. The United American Indians of New England protest group accuses the US and European settlers of fabricating the Thanksgiving story, and,
American Thanksgiving Day is probably a harvest festival at the beginning too. The first Thanksgiving Day in America was on December 4, 1619. At that time, it was a fully religious thing.
Thanksgiving weekend should be about more. The inescapable fact is that the United States needs immigrants now as it has through much of its history. We are at full employment presently, according.
Nov 20, 2012 · Complete & Concise History of Thanksgiving Since we find the thought of writing about soulless Investors making money off a fixed stock market utterly distasteful as Thanksgiving approaches, instead we thought we'd share a complete yet concise history of the holiday from Puritan times to the present.
French General American Revolution There is a general awareness of the French Revolution and its relation to the American uprising. By contrast, the Haitian Revolution of 1791 is rarely mentioned in discussions of this age of. The society, which takes its name from Cincinnatus, the general credited with saving the Roman republic, is the nation's oldest patriotic organization and
The history and facts about this holiday where we eat turkey and give thanks. Around 46 million turkeys were eaten in the US on Thanksgiving in 2010.
May 2018 through April 2019 was the wettest 12-month period on record for the United States, according to the US Department.
Oct 20, 2016 · 7) On October 3, 1789, the first President of the United States, George Washington, proclaimed November 26th to be a day of national thanksgiving and prayer after receiving Congressional requests for such a decree.
The American Automobile Association (AAA. Snoopy has appeared as a giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade more times than any other character in history. As the Flying Ace, Snoopy made.
Mar 15, 2019. Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States, and. war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution.
Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland often says "American Thanksgiving" is the time when a GM has a true read of where his team fits in the NHL standings. History supports Holland in that.
Thanksgiving Day, annual national holiday in the United States and Canada. The U.S. Continental Congress proclaimed a national Thanksgiving upon the.
Nov 19, 2018 · According to the US National Archives, on 28 September 1789 the first Federal Congress passed a resolution asking that the president of the United States recommend to the nation a.
But on Thanksgiving 2016, a day after that threat. "I think there is a cultural dismissiveness toward both the signs that.
The complicated relationship between indigenous people and a holiday that supposedly celebrates their history still exists to this day. On Thanksgiving Day in 2016, many indigenous people of United.
Origin of Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is America's preeminent day. It is celebrated every year on the fourth Thursday in the month of November. It has a very interesting history. Its origin can be traced back to the 16th century when the first thanksgiving dinner is said to have taken place.
The American tradition of Thanksgiving began with a three-day feast that took place in 1621 to celebrate a bountiful harvest. It became cemented as an annual celebration in 1863, when President.
Learn the history and find out how to make the most of this celebration. For many of us, the meaning of Thanksgiving usually includes feasting, four-day.
If you'd like to join us for Thanksgiving dinner, please visit our Thanksgiving. in the fall of 1621 was "the historical birth of the American Thanksgiving holiday.".
The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789. However, it did not become a regular holiday in the United States until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November should be celebrated as Thanksgiving. Since then it has been celebrated every year in the United States.
Nov 19, 2018. Here we bring you the facts about the history of Thanksgiving. According to the US National Archives, on 28 September 1789 the first Federal.
Nov 21, 2018 · Thanksgiving, then, is an unmistakably delicious holiday. But for many historians, it is also a holiday of ambivalence that recalls both American and British history. Celebrating the day as one of European triumph or even peacefulness is an act that erases centuries of.
Description of how the U.S. Thanksgiving Day came to be. Answer provided by Wallbuilders.
These guys, dressed in costumes that recall grade-school Thanksgiving pageants. the first time that a Clubbed Thumb.
Nov 21, 2017. Not to rain on our Thanksgiving Day parade, but the story of the first Thanksgiving , as most Americans have been taught it, is not exactly.
It's Native American Heritage Month, and ironically, of course, the month we celebrate Thanksgiving. Or maybe it isn't irony but something else. It's that we celebrate the holiday while trying to.
Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are. While the booklet "Mourt's Relation" was summarized by other publications without the now-familiar thanksgiving story.
The 1621 Thanksgiving celebration marked the Pilgrims' first autumn harvest, so it is likely that the colonists feasted on the bounty they had reaped with the help of their Native American neighbors.
When you think of the history of Thanksgiving, you'd be hard-pressed not to picture funny Pilgrim hats and stereotyped Native Americans. These days, most of us know that the sanitized story we learned.
Origin of Thanksgiving in America (and our Traditions) Yet, America's Thanksgiving does have a long history. Here is a brief timeline of the Origin of Thanksgiving in America: 1619 – On December 4th, a group of English settlers landed about 20 miles upstream from Jamestown (the Colony of Virginia).
Yamiche Alcindor reports on the surprising history behind the holiday practice. President Donald Trump: Thanksgiving is a time of great American traditions, and today we continue a very special one.
Dec 01, 2018 · A Brief Thanksgiving History. The first Canadian Thanksgiving Day was observed on April 15, 1872, to celebrate the recovery of the prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) from a serious illness. In many North American households today, the Thanksgiving celebration centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends.
This is a story that can unite and inspire us in these divided times. But what is often left out of the Thanksgiving narrative is that Native peoples subsequently faced losses of land, broken treaties.
Country Music: An Illustrated History Dayton Duncan and Ken Burns. and urges Americans to rethink the mythology of.
The proceeds of your subscription will support American history education in K–12 classrooms worldwide. (646) 366-9666 Headquarters: 49 W. 45th Street 2nd Floor New York, NY 10036
History of Thanksgiving Day While the tradition is mainly connected to the feast of the Pilgrims, the Puritans started the tradition before coming to the New World. The Catholic Church had instituted so many special days of remembrance, thanks, feasting, fasting, and resting that the Puritans wanted to remove all holidays and only celebrate Days of Thanksgiving or Days of Fasting.
French General American Revolution
Andrew Jackson Awards And Honors


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Building a New Silk Road? Central Asia in the New World Order
Sebastien Peyrouse
A marooned boat on what used to be the shore of the shrinking Aral Sea. After their 1991 independence, there was a guarded optimism surrounding the five countries of Central Asia. Today, despite the region's strategic and petroleum importance, the future of these new states appears beached by struggling economies, corruption, authoritarian politics, and the global drug trade.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 five new nations gained independence in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. When they emerged onto the world stage they were little understood in the West, often confused with one another, and the subject of jokes on late-night TV. Increasingly, however, these nations demand our attention, whether because of the oil and gas resources in the region, because of the environmental crises — most dramatically the disappearance of the Aral Sea — and because of the strategic location between Russia, China and Afghanistan.
Origins gratefully acknowledges the support of the Middle Eastern Studies Center at The Ohio State University in preparing this article. For more on the recent history of the countries of the former Soviet Union, please see the March 2008 Origins article on Russian politics and the November 2008 article on the Russian-Georgian War. On the history of Islam, readers may also be interested to see Tradition vs Charisma: The Sunni-Shi'i Divide in the Muslim World.
Central Asia may be the most important part of the world we know the least about.
The five countries of the region—Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—are not usually headline news. There is the occasional story about the ongoing problems of the disappearing Aral Sea or a review of Kazakhstan's charming, Cannes award-winning film Tulpan, but otherwise, most Westerners probably cannot distinguish one "stan" from another.
Certainly, the current intensive debate between Kyrgyzstan and the United States over the future of the American air base in Manas, just outside the capital of Bishkek, remains out of the spotlight (despite the importance of the base to U.S. activities in Afghanistan and Pakistan).
This obscurity does not match up with the region's global importance. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Central Asia has become an increasingly important pivot in international relations and economic development.
These states represent new and unintended threats as well as important possibilities. They are sites for a potential rise in radical Islam; for a freer circulation of drugs, conventional weapons, and nuclear materials; and for greater regional unrest, and border and ethnic conflicts. At the same time, they are lands of economic opportunity—especially in oil, gas, uranium, cotton, and other agricultural trade—and many promoters tout the idea of recreating the old Silk Road.
Most immediately, this region is crucial to the Obama administration's plans to deal with a revived war in Afghanistan, and with an increasingly volatile Pakistan. For their part, Europe, Russia, and China all want stability in the region, and both Russia and China are actively nurturing economic and diplomatic ties with the Central Asian countries.
Almost two decades after these five nations achieved independence, they can no longer remain unknown to us.
Central Asia: People and Places
Central Asia is a large, landlocked region, with fewer than 60 million people spread over a generally desert and mountainous terrain. For centuries, the famous Silk Road passed through Central Asia bringing goods between China and Europe. Those trading routes also brought Islam, and places like Bukhara became globally renowned centers of Islamic culture and learning.
However, with the great European maritime discoveries of the fifteenth century, overland trading caravans were increasingly eclipsed by boats. By the seventeenth century, the formerly illustrious and powerful Uzbek khanates had all but been reduced to distant peripheries of the expansive Russian, British, and Chinese empires.
By the second half of the nineteenth century, Central Asia had entered into the sphere of influence of Russia, which had become the main power in the region. The focus of Russian imperialism, like in other European colonies, was the exploitation of natural resources. Raw materials (especially cotton) were sent to the metropole; administrators and finished products were sent back.
Russian domination only increased after the 1917 Revolution. For Central Asian societies, modernity arrived through the political and social experience of Soviet communism. The Soviet experiment involved massive investment in education and literacy (including the alphabetization of the major languages), opportunities for local elites to assume leadership positions as part of Soviet "affirmative action" campaigns, and the creation of the states we know today through the laying down of administrative borders for the republics.
The Soviet years also involved forced settlement of nomadic peoples, waves of ruthless destruction of official Islam, arrests and banishment as a tool of governance, economic relations that privileged Moscow not Central Asia, and an unending litany of ecological disasters.
The Soviet Legacy in Central Asia
When the Central Asian states were thrust into independence in 1991, they felt abandoned by Moscow and the "Slav republics" (Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus). It was a generally unwanted independence, given to them in an unstable and largely unfavorable context. Their elites were ill-prepared, their economies dependent on Russia, and their borders complex.
Still, in the 1990s, there was much cause for optimism concerning the region's potential development.
Central Asia inherited many assets from the Soviet regime. Each state was equipped with a relatively well-developed industrial and/or agricultural sector (such as cotton in Uzbekistan)—even if the end of Moscow's subsidies for unprofitable factories put the local economies in a very difficult position.
The region also enjoyed literacy rates close to one hundred percent, as well as a relatively high level of education, particularly in the technical sector. The health system was also well developed and endemic diseases had generally been wiped out during the Soviet period. It was taken for granted that women were in the workforce, and child labor remained minimal.
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan had a vast wealth of raw materials—gas and oil in particular, but also strategic minerals such as uranium. Many international investors looking to reduce their dependence on the politically unstable Middle East became very interested in the Caspian Sea petroleum resources.
Thus, immediately after independence, Central Asia managed to avoid the typical problems that afflict many less developed countries. Most significantly, the Central Asian states (with the exception of Tajikistan from 1992-1997) have successfully managed to prevent their societies from sliding into civil war or violent interethnic clashes of the likes seen in the Caucasus [For more on recent violence in Georgia, see "Clash in the Caucasus"].
Finding Its Place in a Complex World
Upon independence, all five countries tried to free themselves from Russia's influence. They initially established relationships with states considered culturally similar, like Turkey and Iran, or with Islamic powers, like Pakistan and the Gulf countries.
But these ties did not last very long. Fearing danger from a burgeoning and uncontrolled Islam, the Central Asian authorities restricted their links with Arab countries as early as the mid-1990s. In addition, trade with Turkey turned out to be less profitable than the two parties had imagined in the heyday of their "renewing of ties" in 1991-1992. The economic structures of the new states made it difficult for them to exit the Russian sphere of influence, and Moscow remained their primary partner in many sectors.
Indeed, Moscow has recently made a return to the region and is now considered a legitimate strategic and political ally. Even though Russian politicians at times speak with grand references to the imperial legacy, Russia's actual economic and security practices are doggedly pragmatic. Russia's ability to co-opt rather than coerce Central Asian elites, its political legitimacy, and its cultural values all comprise significant factors that work in favor of its continued dominance in Central Asia.
In the past few years, China has also gained significantly in importance in Central Asia and is now in a position to pose a threat to Russian preeminence, particularly on a commercial level. Perceived as the number one enemy at the time of independence, China is gradually winning sympathizers among the Central Asian political elites. A feeling of mistrust about Beijing's "hidden" objectives remains and there is no shortage of public critiques of the Chinese presence. Yet, many regional leaders can barely conceal their admiration for Beijing's dynamism.
Shortly after independence, most Central Asian states turned markedly toward the European Union and the United States. The U.S. and EU were keenly interested in the process of denuclearization and in the region's vast oil and gas resources. They were also happy to gain sway in a region formerly in Russia's sphere.
Nevertheless, economic relations remained relatively weak and cooperation gradually shifted to the military domain. This was particularly true after September 11, 2001 when the U.S. installed two bases in the region, one in Karshi in Uzbekistan and the other in Manas in Kyrgyzstan.
As the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drag on, however, the United States' influence in the region is waning. By 2005, Washington had become increasingly disenchanted with Uzbek authoritarian policies. At the same time, under pressure from Moscow, Bishkek has demanded the closure of the last American base in the region (although negotiations continue). The European Union's strengthened presence since 2006-2007 has not been enough to provide western countries with any meaningful influence compared to that of Moscow and Beijing.
Political Power and Corruption
After that initial period of post-independence optimism, Central Asian nations have reverted to the worst aspects of one-party dictatorships.
Over the past few years, citizens in all five states have seen a reduction in their political freedoms. Opposition parties have either been placed in very difficult situations (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan) or are unable to exist (Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan). The media has also had limits placed on its freedom of expression. Reports of human rights abuses are widespread.
All the heads of state, many of whom were former first secretaries of the Communist Party of their respective republics, have used and abused the principle of the referendum to extend their presidential mandates.
Multi-party elections, when they occur, are largely devoid of any democratic meaning. The fairness of most elections held in the region since 1991 has been challenged by foreign observers, particularly by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Central Asian heads of states have also succeeded in securing power for their own families and favorites. All the presidents have personally misappropriated a part of the country's resources, and have charged foreign investors exorbitantly for the privilege of doing business.
This patronage-based system, deeply rooted in the daily reality of Central Asia, contributes to widespread corruption at all levels of society. All administrative posts have to be bought, not only in key fields such as justice and the police but also in small public services, education, agriculture, and industry. The population can be charged for even the smallest administrative procedure, and the financial demands of the police are particularly feared. As for teachers, they compensate their mediocre wages by bribing pupils at exam sessions.
Islam and Authoritarian Secularism
Once a locus of Islamic learning renowned the world over, the Central Asian states now struggle to find a place for religion—and Islam in particular—in their new political and social frameworks. Hoping to have their cake and eat it too, they have worked to construct a secular framework that expunges Soviet atheism, and privileges Islam while simultaneously keeping a grip on certain Islamic practices.
Almost immediately, Central Asian states were quick to restrict religious freedoms when confronted with religious movements that the regimes deem "dangerous" to social and political stability, "extremist," or "terrorist."
In particular, the last ten years have been marked by multiple attacks against so-called "Wahhabi" Islam, a derogatory name used to condemn any politicized movement or any Muslim community that refuses to submit to the "Spiritual Boards," the official institutions of religious control.
Ironically, the events of September 11, 2001 and the American-led international "war on terror" have made it easier for the ruling elites to justify greater repression of religion. Central Asian leaders have encouraged not only the international community but also their own populations—which are fearful of the possibility of civil war or the coming to power of religious extremists—to turn a blind eye to the regimes' abuses of power.
In Uzbekistan in particular, any form of opposition, even secular, has been liquidated on the pretext of religious fundamentalism. The authorities have officially banned external signs of religiosity, such as wearing a beard for men or a scarf for women. They also put pressure on state employees by forcing them not to join religious associations if they hope to be promoted.
These harsh tactics have often not achieved the government's aims—and, quite the opposite, have served to link Islam with popular strivings for greater political participation and power.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov's government is locked in confrontation with Islamist parties. Uzbekistan, which was considered the most stable state in the region throughout the 1990s, has become a cauldron whose explosive potential is feared by everyone. With every act of opposition or political destabilization, state repression has increased.
Drug Trafficking and Narco-States
Until the end of the 1990s, Central Asia played only a transit role in the global drug trade, but this situation has changed. Today the five states are also becoming sites of production, refining, and consumption.
If Central Asians aspire to reconstruct some new version of the trade networks of the old Silk Road, so far they have found themselves caught instead in the middle of a "drug road." More than one third of the record-levels of opium grown in Afghanistan reaches Russia and Western Europe via one of the two major Central Asian roads.
Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and even more so Tajikistan can in fact be classified as "narco-states." State representatives, at each administrative level, from the directors of collective farms to regional authorities and the highest-ranking state officials (i.e. the presidential families), are directly involved in the drug trade. It has corrupted the entire state structure, in particular customs officers and the police corps.
The fact that both the political leadership and the oppositional Islamist circles receive considerable revenues from the drug trade makes it difficult for anyone to apply effective counter measures.
With the Soviet Union's policing authority gone, drugs that previously had been limited to traditional and local usage have been commercialized as big business and controlled by organized criminal groups. These crime networks have developed into highly integrated commercial ventures, managing transport networks, chemical and pharmaceutical products, money laundering companies, and banking structures.
In Kyrgyzstan, the Chui valley is reported to grow close to 5 million tons of hemp, which is capable of producing nearly 6,000 tons of hashish, as well as more than 2,000 hectares of poppies capable of yielding 30 tons of opium per year. The four other states have followed suit.
Refining laboratories are sprouting up rapidly in Central Asia, making it possible to rake in huge profits prior to sending stocks to Russia and Europe. More than a hundred opium processing laboratories, each capable of producing twenty kilograms of heroin per day, are reportedly active.
The trade boom with China has played a major role in the development of these laboratories, since the Chinese chemical industry was the first to furnish the chemical products necessary for the transformation of opium into heroin, notably acetic anhydride.
Central Asia has also become a zone of drug consumption. The few figures available indicate that urban jobless youth are not the only users, but that the scourge has also affected rural milieus and in dramatic proportions. This is particularly so in Turkmenistan, where over 100,000 people are affected, but also in the Uzbek part of the Fergana valley, in the south of Kyrgyzstan, and throughout practically all of Tajikistan.
The Poverty of Independence
Drug trafficking, corruption, and repressive politics have led predictably enough to the impoverishment of Central Asia's people.
The implementation of a market economy has been accompanied by a radical disengagement on the part of the state in key sectors such as social protection, the health system, and public education. The result is massive pauperization that only Kazakhstan is currently in a position to address. Land redistribution efforts have also been generally ineffective at improving conditions in rural areas.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan rank among the poorest countries in the world, with a GDP per inhabitant of approximately USD$350 per year. According to UN figures, approximately 70 percent of Tajikistan's population lives below the poverty line on less than a dollar per day. Entire regions of people suffer malnutrition and even near-famine. In Kyrgyzstan and Turkmenistan this figure drops to 50 percent, but numerous zones remain on the verge of economic strangulation.
The 2008 world financial crisis has dramatically weakened these already fragile economies, and intensified general social discontent. In particular, the large numbers of Central Asian migrants (nearly three million Tajiks, Kyrgyz and Uzbeks) that go to work in Russia and Kazakhstan each year, mostly on construction worksites, returned to their countries of origin this year without the expected money.
In some sense, the Central Asian economies are still based on the colonial model: over-dependent on the export of natural resources. Kazakhstan is reliant on its oil, which represents more than 20 percent of its budget revenues and 58 percent of its exports; Turkmenistan on its gas, which accounts for 57 percent of its exports, while its cotton makes up 25 percent of state revenues; and Uzbekistan on its cotton and its gold, which represent 17 and 25 percent of its exports, respectively.
The two poorest states, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, have neither hydrocarbon reserves nor exportable agricultural products, and have to make do with a few mono-productions of precious metals. The region's development is thus subject to the ups and downs of world prices of oil, gas, metals and cotton.
The poverty is made all the worse by a widening gulf of social inequalities, weak administrative structures, and an absence of either real legal constraints or institutional mechanisms to ensure that economic decisions are made in the public interest.
Kazakhstan is the only state to have any real economic dynamism, primarily in oil production. Its rates of growth, which have reached between 5 and 8 percent a year since the beginning of the 2000s, have made it possible to half the number of persons living beneath the poverty line (the figure has lowered to about 20 percent) and a GDP per inhabitant estimated at US$9,400 in 2006.
A Central Asian Future
The great international fear of the 1990s that Central Asia would slide into a mafia-style economic system financed by drug traffic networks, and characterized by the connivance between the ruling political circles and clandestine economic structures—into which radical Islam is trying to insert itself—appears to have become reality.
Though the risks of civil war—which were real after the disappearance of the USSR—have seemingly faded, the political and economic achievements of the region remain far from outstanding. With the exception of Kazakhstan, the Central Asian states have been sliding steadily into economic crisis.
In addition, again with the sole exception of Kazakhstan, political stability ought not to be regarded as a certainty in the region, despite the authoritarian nature of the regimes.
Kyrgyzstan is probably the most troubling case. The Kyrgyz state only exercises limited authority over its territory, is divided into clans defending particular interests, and is undermined by the shadow economy, while in the country's south Islamists publicly preach to the Uzbek and Kyrgyz minorities, and some of the youth are rapidly radicalizing.
In Uzbekistan, Hizb ut-Tahrir—an international, pan-Islamic Sunni political party—is taking root by setting up clandestine structures that make up for the lack of state presence: it gives financial aid to pauperized rural milieus, to single mothers with children, for free education, and for the organization of political discussions to develop criticisms of the established authorities.
The domestic tribulations of the Central Asian states could reverberate throughout the entire region, foremost in Afghanistan, but they could also have a negative impact on Pakistan, Iran, Chinese Xinjiang, and Russia. The effect of "losing" Central Asia will likely be detrimental to world politics for years to come.
Though they seem remote and poverty-stricken, it has never been so urgent that we pay greater attention to these poorly understood places.
More Images Maps/Charts
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Collins K., The Logic of Clan Politics in Central Asia: Its Impact on Regime Transformation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Dudoignon S. A., Komatsu H. (eds.), Islam in Politics in Russia and Central Asia (early eighteenth to late twentieth centuries), Londres, Kegan Paul, 2001.
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Sebastien Peyrouse , "Building a New Silk Road? Central Asia in the New World Order" , Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective
https://origins.osu.edu/article/building-new-silk-road-central-asia-new-world-order?language_content_entity=en.