Landlocked Country

“Since most design professions involve shaping goods and services within large industrial economies, this political economic context is one key to the realities of design education today and tomorrow” (Ken Friedman)

Prof. Ken Friedman wrote the above statement in his paper “Models of Design: Envisioning a Future Design Education” and in this statement he seems to tie the political and social contexts of design education to large industrial economies. While on the surface, this may seem reasonable; it then makes one question the validity and the relevance of design practice and design education outside of large industrial economies. Isn’t design practiced outside of this type of context? Don’t design schools exist in these places?

While the reality is that most design professions and design schools operate within large economies, this paper considers the education and practices designers and design schools, which operate in small emerging economies. This paper uses Prof. Friedman’s article as a starting point for a discussion on design education, but shifts the focus away from places where design is traditionally taught, and practised, to places where makers are still operating primarily in pre-industrial modes. While the need for design education is obvious in large emerging economies such as in Brazil or India, the need may seem less obvious in very more vulnerable economies, where there is no critical mass of designers or even public appreciation for design. Is there a need for design education in Least Developed Countries, Landlocked developing countries and ‘Small Island developing states’ like those found in the Caribbean and the Pacific, or in many of the economies of Africa? Are there any unrecognized opportunities for designers and design educators to play a role in the development of these countries? Are there any benefits to promoting design
education in a pre-industrial context? Is there any benefit to stimulating design in places with little or no design or
manufacturing culture? How can design education and design research support the development these types of societies?

Страны Евразии обладают особой географией, которая отличается от других регионов мирового хозяйства и определяет специфику экономического развития и интеграции на евразийском пространстве. Об уникальности географии Евразии писал Лев Гумилев в своей последней работе «Ритмы Евразии», отмечая, прежде всего, удаленность многих стран Евразии от океанических акваторий: «Надо сказать, что из всей имеющейся на планете суши Евразия является самым «континентальным» регионом, гигантской территорией, в достаточной мере удаленной от всех океанов и морей…» (Гумилев, 2004). В настоящей работе предпринимается попытка оценить значимость факторов континентальности и экономической географии, о которых писали евразийцы, с позиций сегодняшнего дня, в том числе с точки зрения их значимости для экономического развития и интеграции стран Евразии.

According to Finland’s Arctic strategy nearly one third of all the people living north of the 60th parallel are Finns. The strategy also notes, “much of Finland’s territory lies North of the Polar Circle” (Finland’s strategy for the Arctic Region 2013, 8). Clearly, Finland is an Arctic state. However, Finland has no coastline on the Arctic Ocean. This means that Finland is not a member of the so-called A5 group of Arctic coastal states, and consequently has no direct access to the natural resources – oil, gas and minerals – of the Arctic seabed. To put it bluntly,
Finland is a landlocked Arctic country. Consequently, the search for ways to compensate for the geographical disadvantage has been a visible feature of Finnish
Arctic policy.

PRESENTATION

More than a century has passed since Chile invaded the Bolivian Department of Litoral, waging a war among three sister nations and imprisoning Bolivia in forced geographic confinement.

Ever since, several Chilean Presidents and Foreign Ministers have understood that Bolivia should not be cloistered up forever after in the heart of South America, undertaking to negotiate with Bolivia on a sovereign access to the sea.

Today, and as it has always done, my country is claiming a peaceful solution to its landlocked condition. We have therefore appealed to the International Court of Justice to resolve, by law, this dispute that is hindering Latin American integration.

The Book of the Sea is a reflection of the feelings of all Bolivian men and women to share with the international community and all nations of the world the causes behind the invasion and war; the main commitments undertaken by Chile to negotiate a sovereign access to the Pacific with Bolivia; the reasons why Bolivia has decided to appeal to international jurisdiction to find a solution to its landlocked condition; and the damages Bolivia has endured on account of its confinement from the sea.

We are convinced that history, the awareness of the international community, reason and law all accompany Bolivia in its maritime claim. We are certain that, together with the Chilean people, we will find a formula to put an end for good to our landlocked condition and enjoy a sovereign access to the sea.

Bolivia’s sea will be a sea for the people, a sea of hope and reconciliation, open to an encounter of all nations of the world as testimony that sister nations are capable of settling their conflicts peacefully.

Evo Morales Ayma
CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA

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PRESENTACIÓN

Ha transcurrido más de un siglo desde que Chile invadió el Litoral boliviano y provocó la guerra entre tres pueblos hermanos, confinando a Bolivia a un forzado enclaustramiento geográfico.

Desde entonces, varios Presidentes y Cancilleres de Chile comprendieron que Bolivia no podía quedarse encerrada para siempre en el corazón de América del Sur y se comprometieron a negociar con Bolivia un acceso soberano al mar.

Hoy mi país, como siempre lo ha hecho, pide una solución pacífica a su enclaustramiento y por ello acude a la Corte Internacional de Justicia a fin de resolver, en Derecho, esta controversia que obstaculiza la integración latinoamericana.

En el Libro del Mar se expresan los sentimientos de todas las bolivianas y los bolivianos para dar a conocer a la comunidad internacional y a todos los pueblos del mundo las causas de la invasión y la guerra; los principales compromisos asumidos por Chile de negociar con Bolivia una salida soberana al Pacífico; las razones por las que Bolivia recurre a la jurisdicción internacional para encontrar una solución a su enclaustramiento; y los daños y perjuicios que sufre Bolivia a causa de su mediterraneidad.

Estamos seguros que la historia, la conciencia de la comunidad internacional, la razón y el derecho acompañan a Bolivia en su demanda marítima y que junto al pueblo chileno, encontraremos la fórmula que acabe para siempre con el enclaustramiento y nos permita tener un acceso soberano al mar.

El mar de Bolivia será un mar de los pueblos, un mar de esperanza y reconciliación, abierto al encuentro de todas las naciones del mundo como testimonio de que los países hermanos pueden resolver sus conflictos de manera pacífica.

Evo Morales Ayma
PRESIDENTE CONSTITUCIONAL DEL ESTADO PLURINACIONAL DE BOLIVIA

In our special report Economic Geography of the Eurasian Countries on the importance of countries' geographic position, we noted that the continentality of the region has significant consequences for economic development, including GDP and turnover growth. The key factor in the imbalances between the continental and coastal regions is the significant difference in transportation costs. In EDB countries, high transport expenses are driven by the particular regional location of key production facilities and the higher cost of carriage by land than by sea. If goods are exported, their transportation expenses within the exporting country are sustained primarily by the producer. Therefore, the profit gained by the companies differs significantly depending on their remoteness from the ocean. For EDB countries, that is manifestly illustrated when the transport expenses of large regional exporting companies are compared with those of producers from oceanic states. In this report, we briefly identify the key geographic factors impacting economic development both at the country level and at the micro-level of industries and companies.

Examining Kazakhstan’s foreign policy through the lens of its position as the largest landlocked, and transcontinental, country in the world, the paper presents a multidimensional analysis of the unique soft power strategy adopted recently by this nation in promoting its various international initiatives in its region. In doing so, the paper attempts to understand the implications of Kazakhstan’s distinctive geopolitical setting at the heart of Eurasia for regional integration and security-building initiatives that have been proposed and actively supported by this transitional nation. The paper focuses on investigating key political and socioeconomic aspects of the country’s location at the intersection of Europe and Asia and analyses whether a symbiotic relationship exists between Kazakhstan’s multi-vectored foreign policy and the wide range of its international initiatives aiming to promote economic development, partnership and peaceful coexistence between various nations in the region. The key findings and generalizations of the research will facilitate better understanding of the implications of landlocked geography for the direction of foreign policy, using concrete examples and manifestations of political decisions made in the area.

En las últimas dos décadas se ha producido un aumento en el reconocimiento de la situación especial que enfrentan los países sin litoral. Tanto en la academia como en organismos internacionales, existe consenso sobre los efectos negativos que tiene la mediterraneidad para el desempeño económico de los países. Una de las conclusiones más claras es que la falta de acceso a costas soberanas tiene el efecto consiguiente de limitar el crecimiento. Como afirma un estudio de la Comisión Económica para el Asia y el Pacífico, " los países en desarrollo sin litoral (PDSL), son confrontados con una serie de restricciones especiales que inhibe su participación en el proceso de globalización " (ESCAP, 2003:1) 2. Varios estudios que profundizaron el tema encontraron que la variable que mayor significancia ha demostrado es la infraestructura física. En uno de los estudios seminales Behar y Limao 3 (2001) encuentran que para los países sin litoral la infraestructura explica el 60% de los costos de transporte. Además, Limao y Venables 4 determinan que una mejora en la infraestructura puede aminorar hasta en dos tercios las desventajas asociadas a la mediterraneidad. De acuerdo a la ESCAP (2003:4) el problema específico que se enfrenta es que, " por a su falta de acceso a los puertos marítimos y el costo prohibitivo de carga aérea, los PDSL tienen que confiar en el transporte de mercancías por vía terrestre a través de uno o más países vecinos. Los costes adicionales que origina junto con los problemas de distancia, hacen más costosas las importaciones y exportaciones hacen menos competitivas, poniendo así los países sin litoral en desventaja en la economía mundial. " En el caso de Bolivia, por los motivos anteriormente expuestos, la aceleración de la globalización, se presentan más como un reto que como una ventaja. Tomando en cuenta la importancia de la infraestructura para reducir los costos de transporte e incrementar el comercio, el obstáculo más grande que enfrenta el comercio boliviano son sin duda los puertos para conectarse al mundo. Si bien se tienen retos para mejora en cuanto a carreteras, el nudo actual para los flujos comerciales son los puertos que el comercio boliviano utiliza en terceros países. Esto debido a la gran cantidad de trabas que imponen y aumento consiguiente de costos y días en el circuito logístico. Tanto para exportaciones como para importaciones, Bolivia se comunica al mundo casi en su totalidad por puertos del norte de Chile, principalmente Arica, Antofagasta y en menor medida

Con el avance de la tecnología, el mundo se hace cada vez más integrado. Los países tienen más facilidad para los negocios internacionales y esto se traduce en aumentos en los flujos comerciales. Diversos estudios muestran que una de las principales características del proceso contemporáneo de globalización es el aumento exponencial del comercio exterior. Sin embargo, para los países sin litoral, este gran aumento de la interconexión e interdependencia global se torna en un creciente y complejo desafío, dadas las limitaciones que enfrentan para acceder a los océanos. El problema central radica en que, a diferencia de los países que tienen acceso soberano a costas marítimas, los países sin litoral (PSL) deben transitar por otros países para acceder al mundo. Así, no resulta extraño que Limao y Venables (2001) hayan encontrado que los PSL comercian 60% menos que un país de similares características y que sí tiene acceso soberano al mar.

Upon Eritrean independence in 1993, Ethiopia became landlocked and therefore dependent on neighbors – especially Djibouti – for access to international markets. This dependency has hampered Ethiopia’s aspiration to emerge as the uncontested regional power in the Horn of Africa. This article explains how Ethiopia has attempted to manipulate extra-regional interest in the Horn’s coastal zone to alleviate the major economic and political liabilities associated with landlockedness. Previewing the main argument, this article shows how Ethiopia was able to anticipate dangers and opportunities linked to growing involvement of Gulf Arab States in the ports of the region, and how it embarked on an expeditionary foreign policy mission in the Gulf (specifically in the UAE) in order to steer investment towards the port town where Addis Ababa could derive the most strategic advantage – Berbera in semi-autonomous Somaliland. Moreover, this under-reported development in the port architecture of th...

Over the last twenty-five years and since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Southern Caucasus has come to play a relevant—and in some case pivotal—role to Turkish foreign policy. The relevance of the area to Ankara’s foreign policy results primarily from the central role it gained within what esser (2000, p. 205) called the double coupling dilemma1. It refers to the need for Turkey in the post-Cold ar era to reinvent and relaunch its relations with the estern partners, while simultaneously trying to exploit the regional windows of opportunities disclosed by the Soviet Union’s dissolution. Theorized with reference to the first phase of the post-bipolar era, the double coupling dilemma in its essence—i.e. the need to find a balance between global and regional aims, projections and alliances—seems instead to cut across all the post-1991 Turkish foreign policy (Frappi 2008), standing as a the main reason behind the continuous relevance of the Caucasus area.

Eurasian countries are endowed with a unique geography that differs from other regions in the global economy and determines the specifics of economic development and integration in the Eurasian space. The unique geography of Eurasia was mentioned by Lev Gumilyov in his last paper, Rhythms of Eurasia, in wich as he noted that many Eurasian countries were distant from oceans. 'We should say that of all the land that there is on our planet, Eurasia is the most 'continental' region, a giant territory that is remote from all the oceans and seas…' (Gumilyov, 2004). The present paper attempts to assess the significance of the " continentality " and economic geography factors, described by the " early Eurasian " school of thought, from today's perspective – particularly in terms of their significance for economic development and integration of Eurasian countries. THE UNIQUENESS OF EURASIAN ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY As regards the EAEU countries, the unique geography of its member countries consists not only in their inland geographic location but also in the extreme nature, to an extent, of their " continentality " and separation from ocean spaces: • Belarus is the biggest landlocked country in Europe (with the longest land border); • Kazakhstan is the world's biggest landlocked country; • Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan share the third and fourth places among the world's landlocked countries located at the highest average elevations above sea level (with the first/second places shared by Bhutan and Nepal); • Armenia is the only country of Western Asia (which includes the Middle East and Transcaucasia as defined by the United Nations) without access to sizeable water space (Azerbaijan has access to the Caspian Sea); • Russia is the world's biggest country with the longest land border; • Kazakhstan and other Republics of the former USSR constitute one of the world's largest groups of landlocked countries (one of the world's biggest 'inaccessibility areas' comprising individual States with no outlet to the sea): in his works, Pyotr Savitsky (1997) noted the unique combination of the region's enormous area and remoteness from the coasts: 'The scale of Semirechye's (region in Central Asia) remoteness from the coasts are unheard of in the rest of the world'.