Date: Sat, 4 May 1996 18:05:44 +0300 (EET DST)
From: Irem Balkir <irem-AT-Bilkent.EDU.TR>
Subject: Re: PC & former USSR?




On Thu, 2 May 1996, Douglas Eli Julien wrote:

 the "ideologeme of the 'Three Worlds'" is the existence of a pigeonholing of the
> periphery as not only economically outside of the "First World," but
> also culturally and socially underdeveloped.
>      I am not familiar with the Central Asian States (outside of a
> basic discussion of the geopolitical) and would be highly interested
> in a futher discussion of what Irem Balkir sees as the colozization of
> the Central Asian states by "Exxon, Chevron, and their likes." It seems
> there might be an interesting parallel with Nigeria and Shell...
>
Thanks for raising these issues.
 I know very little about the history of Shell in Nigeria but I assume
that it contributed less to the development of the Nigerian economy,
people and democracy than it helped the Dutch economy prosper. The
operations of the oil companies in Central Asia are fairly recent to make
a similar observation. Yet the discourse enveloping their deals resembles
the 19th century discourse of "spheres of influence"-- which after all is
tantamount to limited state sovereignity. If this is part of the new
structure replacing the soviet nomenklatura, is it really post-colonial
or not?

Irem Balkir




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