At the end of every major war, the dominant powers of that era initiate a new effort to establish a new world order. The Peace of Westphalia after the 30 Years War, the Congress of Vienna after the Napoleonic Wars, the League of Nations after the First World War and the United Nations after the Second World War are all manifestations of these new efforts.
Since the end of the Cold War, wherever a crisis occurs, it is frozen, not resolved; addressed for the time being and on a piecemeal basis and not for good. The international system suffers from the lack of a system representative of shared values in the post-Cold War era. Consequently, the Southwest Caucasus Crisis of August 2008 was not just a regional crisis, but swelled to spillover into a global problem. The crisis has once again raised the necessity of questioning the efficacy of the prevailing system in Eurasia, the security precautions in place, and the necessity of establishing a new system.
While European Eurasia has the capacity to resolve disputes peacefully, the Asian side has a greater potential for slipping into armed conflicts. Unresolved territorial disputes, separatist movements and radicalism could result in new clashes at any time in some parts of Asia. The need for a new system and a lasting security structure in Asia arose in the post-Cold War era, when frozen conflicts in Eurasia heated up; territorial and ethnic disputes erupted; the possibility of armed conflicts increased; and the struggle for competing interests of the great powers started. The significance of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that was founded in Asia should not be underestimated and should be treated as a novel process that is to the advantage of not only as Asia, but for the West as well. Moreover, the West's need for energy resources from the Middle East, Persian Gulf and Caspian Sea is another reason for why all sides need to reach a viable compromise to ensure meeting long-term goals for the region, chief among them, the issue of Eurasian stability
The "Conference on Interactions and Confidence Building Measures in Asia" (CICA) was founded with the initiative of Kazakhstan for the establishment of a comprehensive peace and security system in Asia. CICA, with 20 member states and 10 observer institutions and states, has the potential to lay the foundation for the needed regional stability. Kazakhstan has the CICA chairmanship until 2010; at which point in time, it will assume the chairmanship of the OSCE. The idea behind the organization was introduced back in 1992 by Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev during the 47th Session of the UN General Assembly.
The third Summit of the CICA Ministers of Foreign Affairs was held in the former capital of Kazakhstan, Almaty on August 25, 2008. Delegates of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Egypt, Israel, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China, Mongolia, Pakistan, Palestine, Russia, Tajikistan, Thailand and Turkey attended the summit. It is not too early to say that
Kazakhstan's role in the establishment of CICA was proven effective. The opening statement by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the Summit touches upon the successes of the institution; that three new observers, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, entered CICA at the Summit points to the institution's relevance and competence as a platform for dialogue.
At the Summit, Nazarbayev stated that "We need to fight against global terrorism, religious fundamentalism, organized crime, drug trafficking and illegal immigration by using all the tools of collective diplomacy. For this, concrete steps have to be taken in military- political arena. Thus, this perspective should be the main direction for the Confidence Building Measures Catalogue."
The Catalogue was accepted at the Second Ministers of Foreign Affairs Summits in Almaty on October 22, 2004. Measures were discussed under five headings: military-political, fight against new threats and challenges, economic, ecological and cultural.
Confidence building measures were undertaken in four fundamental social-economic dimensions (political, economic, ecologic and human dimensions). With agreement reached on the "Collective Approach for the Realization of Confidence Building Measures" paper in Bangkok in 2007, member states took a collective and important step towards making progress.
In the paper, Azerbaijan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Korea, Russia, Tajikistan and Turkey assume the role of coordinators and joint-coordinators for supporting measures for human development; , fighting against emerging threats and existing challenges; establishment of safe and effective transportation routes; struggle against illegal drug trafficking; coordinating disaster relief; cooperating in information technologies; energy security; development of small and medium enterprises and tourism.
In the summer of 2010, CICA is expected to hold the 3rd Heads of State Summit. Although the agenda of the Summit will not be certain up until the date; it would be safe to say that addressing the unstable and conflict-prone regions of Asia would be one of the major issues. As N. Nazarbayev points out "today, all efforts should focus on rebuilding of Afghanistan and bringing stability". He has also mentioned his wish for stability in the Middle East by making reference to the misery in Iraq. He emphasized that, as a president, who forgoes nuclear weapons, he would work to further nuclear disarmament policies. This increases the significance and underlines the relevance of CICA, in a climate where negotiations on disarmament continue with North Korea. He also points to the necessity for a diplomatic resolution on Iran's nuclear program. Lately, states use force when their interests collide, which creates an environment of reciprocal mistrust. In Hegel's words, then "History teaches nations that it cannot teach anything".
The Kazakh President evaluated the current situation in South Ossetia and the Caucasus in general during his speech at the Summit. According to the President, the use of force for the settlement of disputes resulted in casualties to both the Georgian and South Ossetian people and Russian peace force. This, consequently, has made the resolution of political-legal problems affecting the future of the Caucasus more difficult.
The problem of armed conflicts is not the only issue that was discussed at the 2008 summit. The humanitarian crises that threaten global stability, namely the financial crisis and sharp price increases in oil and food were also discussed with a view towards finding solutions.
In the final declaration of the summit, member states reached an agreement on the establishment of multi-polar world system around the UN. Moreover, members also condemned the practice of aggressively pursuing security at the expense of other states' security. Finally, the significance of taking concrete steps towards realizing confidence building measures between CICA members , and the enormous tasks that lie ahead in the fight against Afghanistan-born terrorism and drug trafficking were reiterated.
CICA was declared as an effective institution for the improvement of comprehensive cooperation in Asia.
Kazakhstan's term for the CICA Chairmanship will end in 2010. The Kazakh President proposed Turkey as an ideal candidate for the chairmanship, an official request from Kazakhstan has been relayed to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As the most influential actor working to promote Eurasian security it is important to support CICA, and stand by Kazakhstan, which also has significant leverage in CICA.
Although EU membership is a priority for Ankara, one should never forget that Turkey is a Eurasian state. Turkey should assume a more active role not only in the Middle East but also in Eurasia; and this is in accordance with the new vision and shift in Turkey's foreign policy outlook that positions Turkey to be a global power, not just a regional one. Modern Turkey's interests lie not only in Europe but also in Asia. At the end of the day, Ankara, as the heir of the Ottoman Empire, has responsibilities, as well as opportunities in the area that was once part of the empire.