Although Eurasia’s Caspian basin once supported the world’s richest and most diverse complex of s... more Although Eurasia’s Caspian basin once supported the world’s richest and most diverse complex of sturgeon species, recent human activities have decimated populations of these ecologically and economically important fish. All five anadromous Caspian sturgeon species are critically endangered, and the potamodromous sterlet is also threatened. The precipitous decline of these species is due to a combination of factors that includes illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; destruction of feeding and spawning habitat; water pollution; and the environmental consequences of climate change. International efforts are currently underway to re-establish sustained naturally reproducing sturgeon populations in the basin. Here, we update and review the status of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea with emphasis on the northern basin and the inflowing Volga and Ural rivers. We then focus on efforts to restore sturgeon in the Ural, which originates in Russia and flows through Kazakhstan before en...
Although Eurasia’s Caspian basin once supported the world’s richest and most diverse complex of s... more Although Eurasia’s Caspian basin once supported the world’s richest and most diverse complex of sturgeon species, recent human activities have decimated populations of these ecologically and economically important fish. All five anadromous Caspian sturgeon species are critically endangered, and the potamodromous sterlet is also threatened. The precipitous decline of these species is due to a combination of factors that includes illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; destruction of feeding and spawning habitat; water pollution; and the environmental consequences of climate change. International efforts are currently underway to re-establish sustained naturally reproducing sturgeon populations in the basin. Here, we update and review the status of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea with emphasis on the northern basin and the inflowing Volga and Ural rivers. We then focus on efforts to restore sturgeon in the Ural, which originates in Russia and flows through Kazakhstan before en...
Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic that is now independent, lies near the center of arid Eurasi... more Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic that is now independent, lies near the center of arid Eurasia. Its sparse hydrographic network includes a small number of large rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, many ponds and smaller streams, as well as littoral zones bordering the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. A diverse fisheries sector, initially based on wild fish capture and later including aquaculture, developed in these waters during the Soviet era, when animal agriculture was unable to meet the protein needs of Soviet citizens. The sector, which was originally centered on the Volga–Caspian basin, was tightly managed by Moscow and benefitted from coordinated investments in research, infrastructure, and human resources, as well as policies to increase the consumption of fish products. Independence in 1991 administered a political and economic shock that disrupted these relationships. Kazakhstan’s wild fish harvests plummeted by more than two-thirds, and aquaculture collapsed to just 3% of its...
This paper synthesizes the contemporary challenges for the sustainability of the social-environme... more This paper synthesizes the contemporary challenges for the sustainability of the social-environmental system (SES) across a geographically, environmentally, and geopolitically diverse region – the Asian Drylands Belt (ADB). This region includes 18 political entities, covering 10.3% of global land area and 30% of total global drylands. At the present time, the ADB is confronted with a unique set of environmental and socioeconomic changes including water shortage-related environmental challenges and dramatic institutional changes since the collapse of the USSR. The SES of the ADB is assessed using a conceptual framework rooted in the three pillars of sustainability science: social, economic, and ecological systems. The complex dynamics are explored with biophysical, socioeconomic, institutional, and local context-dependent mechanisms with a focus on institutions and land use and land cover change as important drivers of SES dynamics. This paper also discusses the following five pressi...
* Too Few or Too Many Parties? The Implications of Electoral Engineering in Post-Communist States... more * Too Few or Too Many Parties? The Implications of Electoral Engineering in Post-Communist States, Erik Herron * Hegel's Institutionalism Liberalism: Political Economy and Civil Society in the "Philosophy of Right," Louis Hunt * The Dissidents and the Antipolitical Ideology of Civil Society, Folke Lindahl * Nation-Building in East Central Europe: Civic or Ethnic Majorities, Kathleen Dowley * The Development of Political Parties: Russia in Perspective, Axel Hadenius * The Political Elite in Hungary Through Transition, Jiri Lach * The Negation of Communism in Central Europe? Andras Lanczi * Why is Romania Different? A Perspective of the Economics Transition, Mircea T. Maniu * Tradition and Modernity in the Romanian Transition, Marius Jucan.
Although Eurasia’s Caspian basin once supported the world’s richest and most diverse complex of s... more Although Eurasia’s Caspian basin once supported the world’s richest and most diverse complex of sturgeon species, recent human activities have decimated populations of these ecologically and economically important fish. All five anadromous Caspian sturgeon species are critically endangered, and the potamodromous sterlet is also threatened. The precipitous decline of these species is due to a combination of factors that includes illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; destruction of feeding and spawning habitat; water pollution; and the environmental consequences of climate change. International efforts are currently underway to re-establish sustained naturally reproducing sturgeon populations in the basin. Here, we update and review the status of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea with emphasis on the northern basin and the inflowing Volga and Ural rivers. We then focus on efforts to restore sturgeon in the Ural, which originates in Russia and flows through Kazakhstan before en...
Although Eurasia’s Caspian basin once supported the world’s richest and most diverse complex of s... more Although Eurasia’s Caspian basin once supported the world’s richest and most diverse complex of sturgeon species, recent human activities have decimated populations of these ecologically and economically important fish. All five anadromous Caspian sturgeon species are critically endangered, and the potamodromous sterlet is also threatened. The precipitous decline of these species is due to a combination of factors that includes illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing; destruction of feeding and spawning habitat; water pollution; and the environmental consequences of climate change. International efforts are currently underway to re-establish sustained naturally reproducing sturgeon populations in the basin. Here, we update and review the status of sturgeon in the Caspian Sea with emphasis on the northern basin and the inflowing Volga and Ural rivers. We then focus on efforts to restore sturgeon in the Ural, which originates in Russia and flows through Kazakhstan before en...
Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic that is now independent, lies near the center of arid Eurasi... more Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic that is now independent, lies near the center of arid Eurasia. Its sparse hydrographic network includes a small number of large rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, many ponds and smaller streams, as well as littoral zones bordering the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. A diverse fisheries sector, initially based on wild fish capture and later including aquaculture, developed in these waters during the Soviet era, when animal agriculture was unable to meet the protein needs of Soviet citizens. The sector, which was originally centered on the Volga–Caspian basin, was tightly managed by Moscow and benefitted from coordinated investments in research, infrastructure, and human resources, as well as policies to increase the consumption of fish products. Independence in 1991 administered a political and economic shock that disrupted these relationships. Kazakhstan’s wild fish harvests plummeted by more than two-thirds, and aquaculture collapsed to just 3% of its...
This paper synthesizes the contemporary challenges for the sustainability of the social-environme... more This paper synthesizes the contemporary challenges for the sustainability of the social-environmental system (SES) across a geographically, environmentally, and geopolitically diverse region – the Asian Drylands Belt (ADB). This region includes 18 political entities, covering 10.3% of global land area and 30% of total global drylands. At the present time, the ADB is confronted with a unique set of environmental and socioeconomic changes including water shortage-related environmental challenges and dramatic institutional changes since the collapse of the USSR. The SES of the ADB is assessed using a conceptual framework rooted in the three pillars of sustainability science: social, economic, and ecological systems. The complex dynamics are explored with biophysical, socioeconomic, institutional, and local context-dependent mechanisms with a focus on institutions and land use and land cover change as important drivers of SES dynamics. This paper also discusses the following five pressi...
* Too Few or Too Many Parties? The Implications of Electoral Engineering in Post-Communist States... more * Too Few or Too Many Parties? The Implications of Electoral Engineering in Post-Communist States, Erik Herron * Hegel's Institutionalism Liberalism: Political Economy and Civil Society in the "Philosophy of Right," Louis Hunt * The Dissidents and the Antipolitical Ideology of Civil Society, Folke Lindahl * Nation-Building in East Central Europe: Civic or Ethnic Majorities, Kathleen Dowley * The Development of Political Parties: Russia in Perspective, Axel Hadenius * The Political Elite in Hungary Through Transition, Jiri Lach * The Negation of Communism in Central Europe? Andras Lanczi * Why is Romania Different? A Perspective of the Economics Transition, Mircea T. Maniu * Tradition and Modernity in the Romanian Transition, Marius Jucan.
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Papers by Norman Graham